Another
by Illidan the Half Demon
Summary: Three hundred year ago, Lord Inutaisho had a second son. Forty-five years later, Inuyasha was born while the second son was sent away on a mission to kill a group of mages known as The Thirteen. Upon his return, what will happen? A few lemons...
1. Chapter 1: Visits

**Ok, this is my first full length Inuyasha fic. I only hope everyone enjoys this.**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: My main character's name.**

**Nytemayr-Shatterd-DayDreams: Sesshomaru's mother's name**

**Yukina-Raven: Name of my main character's sword.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Chapter 1**

"I'm sorry I haven't visited in a long time, but I've been gone for so long." a young man softly said aloud.

The young man had butt length dark black hair that was held up in a long ponytail that trailed down his back, but his bangs hung loosely. On his head, two black dog ears twitched lightly, but remained for the most part still. His hands had sharp claws, and he had sharp fangs that slightly poked out of his mouth. On his cheeks, two light purple jagged streaks were visible. His face was rather fair and he had eyes that were the color of muddy brown that held softness in them, but showed also some hardness that was hidden. His body was well toned, showing signs of years of training. He wore a kimono top made of fine black silk with red hexagon patterns with some red dripping to the bottom on each sleeve and on his left shoulder, and balloon like black pants. A green obi sash was tied around his waist, with a sword in it that had a black sheath with a small band of green at the top near the hilt of the sword. The sword itself had a finely braided green hilt and a golden guard. On his feet he wore black boot like shoes.

He was silently sitting on his knees, watching some incense continue to burn while at the same time began pulling a few weeds nearby out of the ground. Smiling, he softly said "It looks like it has been a while since anyone has been to your grave. I guess that's understandable from what I've heard had been happening in this region."

Finishing up with pulling the weeds, he softly smiled once again and traced the carved words on the tombstone. "I'm sorry for not being here when you needed me to be. I should have returned home and helped look after your son, but I instead continued on with my duty. It shames me that I didn't return, or that my stubborn older brother didn't help raise your son."

Sighing, the young man added "Don't worry though. I understand that your son did find his place in the world. You'd be so proud of him, I know it."

"Hey, are you done over there yet!?" an impatient voice called out.

Glancing over, the young man saw another young man with short spiky orange hair and brown eyes who had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He wore a black kimono top with pants that were solid black with a white inner kimono. Around his waist he wore a white sash that was in a few knots. Across his chest was a thick brown strap that was attached to a large sheath on his back that held a large sword with a red hilt and two small threads hanging off of it. His body was well defined, showing his great strength. On his feet were white socks with simple sandals.

"Would you have a little patience Ichigo?" the young man asked patiently.

"Whatever…" Ichigo grumbled back.

Sighing, the young man apologetically said "I'm sorry about that. He's so impatient. Anyways, don't worry about Inuyasha. I'm going to find him and make sure he knows the meaning of family from now on. I give you my word Izayoi, and I always keep to my word, no matter what."

Standing up, he pulled some flowers from inside his kimono and set them on the grave. "Please, rest in peace and don't worry. I will find him and show him what family is all about."

Bowing lowly, he turned and walked away from the grave in slow stride. Arriving at Ichigo's location, he glared at him, saying "Have some patience Ichigo. I haven't been here in nearly two and half centuries."

"Not my fault you don't visit." Ichigo smartly remarked. "Besides Iya, I thought you didn't know her?"

Smiling, Iya said "I knew her a little bit. Not much, but enough. Come, let's go visit another friend of mine who may have some info."

"This one alive?" Ichigo smugly asked.

"I hope." Iya wistfully remarked with a smirk.

Together, the pair began walking away from the small grave site.

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Arriving at a smoldering volcano, the pair walked up towards the mouth of a cave that was seemingly carved out of a dragon's mouth. Walking in, the pair looked around and noted an old man curled up asleep.

The old man had a thin patch of grey hair pulled up in a pony tail, wrinkly skin, a small mustache and goatee, horrible looking teeth, long finger nails, and bare feet. He wore a simple mostly green and black striped outfit that fit loosely on him.

"Master Totosai, are you awake?" Iya asked.

Slightly stirring, the old man rolled over away from the pair and mumbled "Leave me be."

Instantly, snores erupted from the old man again, as if he didn't even hear the pair a moment ago. Both Iya and Ichigo sweat dropped at this.

Growling loudly, Ichigo stomped over to the old man and nudged him with his foot, yelling "WAKE UP OLD MAN!"

The old man instantly stopped snoring and sat up. Rubbing his bugged out looking eyes, he glanced at Iya and Ichigo. "Can't you see I was sleeping?" he asked with a yawn.

"Master Totosai, do you not recognize me?" Iya asked.

Looking at Iya again, Totosai's forehead furrowed till finally a surprised look came over his face. "Iya, Iya Taisho, is that actually you!?"

Nodding, Iya remarked "Yes, it is Master Totosai. It's good to see you're still alive."

"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Totosai excitedly said. Standing up, he said "Let me get a better look at you."

Examining Iya head to toe, Totosai smiled once more and said "My, oh my, you look great! You turned out rather nicely."

Lightly smiling at the comment, Iya bowed his head, saying "Thank you."

"So, what brings you here? Last time I saw you, you were so young. It's been… how long has it been?" Totosai asked with a clueless look on his face.

Putting his index finger under his chin, Iya thought for a few moments before saying "I believe it's been nearly two-hundred-sixty years since I saw you Totosai."

"Wow, it's been a while." Totosai stated. "Have you taken good care of Ketsaiga since then?"

Pulling the sword out of it's sheath, Iya presented the flawless metal sword to the old man, saying "I've done my best. Whenever it dulled, I took it to be sharpened or did it myself. There are no flaws in it, so I thank you Master Totosai for your master craftsmanship."

"Wait, this is the guy who made your sword?" Ichigo asked with a look of shock.

"Of course I forged the Ketsaiga you whelp!" Totosai said with a foot stomp.

Folding his arms, Ichigo snapped back "I had no idea!"

Lightly chuckling at this, Iya handed the sword to Totosai, asking "Master Totosai, if it's not too much trouble, could you sharpen the blade for me?"

Examining the sword for flaws, the old man finally replied "Sure, I can sharpen it, plus I'll strengthen it a bit if I can. Go ahead and take a seat."

Both Ichigo and Iya sat down onto some rocks nearby while Totosai grabbed a nearby large hammer. With sure strokes, he began hammering on the sword and began holding his breath. Once his cheeks were full, he let out a deep breath that shot out fire at the sword. When the flames stopped spewing out, he began hammering the sword once more.

Turning his attention back to Iya, Totosai asked "How has your hunt been going?"

"Slow." Iya muttered.

"I see." Totosai replied with a nod. "By the way, did you hear about what had been happening in this region?"

"Yes, I did. I heard that a powerful half demon called Naraku nearly got his claws on the Jewel of Four Souls." Iya remarked.

Nodding, Totosai added "Yes, he nearly did, but Inuyasha, with a little help from some allies, beat him. Sesshomaru even helped out."

"Heh, that must of nearly killed Sesshomaru's pride to do that." Iya mused.

"No doubt." Totosai concurred. Examining the sword once more, he smiled, saying "You've taken good care of Ketsaiga, Iya. At least far better care than that fool Inuyasha did of Tetsusaiga."

Raising an eyebrow, Iya asked "Oh? What did he do to it?"

"The damn fool, he's done many things to it. I guess I should start from the beginning." Totosai said with a small sigh while picking up a sharpening tool.

Clearing his throat, Totosai said "Back about five years ago, Inuyasha and a young miko girl called Kagome, were beginning their journey to piece the Shikon no Tama back together that Kagome broke. Sesshomaru soon intervened within a week of their search beginning. He found the pair and demanded to know where the Tetsusaiga was. Myoga was with them at the time since Sesshomaru had been chasing after him. Anyways, from what I remember, Sesshomaru used a demon to look like Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, so he could get his hands on the Black Pearl in Inuyasha's right eye."

Spewing some more fire onto the rock he was working on, Totosai continued on, saying "Well, once in the Black Pearl, Sesshomaru reached Tetsusaiga first. He attempted to pull it out of it's resting place, but found a barrier surrounding the hilt."

"It repelled him I'm guessing." Iya calmly said.

Nodding, Totosai replied "Sure did. Since Sesshomaru hated humans, the Tetsusaiga's barrier rejected him. Inuyasha himself tried to pull the sword out, but he couldn't. Kagome then accidentally grabbed hold of Tetsusaiga during the battle between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and pulled it out of it's resting spot, thus shocking both brothers."

"No doubt. If some weak human pulled my sword out of something I couldn't, I'd be shocked." Ichigo muttered.

Ignoring Ichigo, Totosai continued on with his story. "Anyways, a battle broke out in full force then between the two brothers, with Sesshomaru apparently transforming into full dog form."

Lightly grunting, Iya muttered "That was a little over the top to finish off Inuyasha."

"I thought so too." Totosai added. "The two started fighting more seriously, but Inuyasha couldn't figure out how to use Tetsusaiga. Kagome began to despair, but Inuyasha cockily told her to let him protect her. Tetsusaiga instantly reacted to that and transformed for Inuyasha, allowing him to cut off Sesshomaru's left arm."

"He lost his arm?" Iya asked in a bit of shock.

Nodding, Totosai grinned, and cheerfully said "Yep, he did. That forced him to retreat from the Black Pearl and far away to recover. Inuyasha then returned with Kagome and the two continued their journey to find the Sacred Jewel Shards."

Stopping to hammer on the sword once more, Totosai then looked up and said "Not long after that, Sesshomaru apparently entered into a pact with Naraku, who gave him a human arm with a Sacred Jewel Shard embedded into it."

"Why bother with that? If he couldn't hold the sword before, why try with a human arm?" Ichigo irritably asked.

Thinking for a moment, Iya finally replied "I've heard of the power of the Sacred Jewel through rumors. It was supposed to give humans and demons extra power. My guess is, the human arm acted like an extension to Sesshomaru's demonic power, thus allowing him to grasp Tetsusaiga and transform it."

"Correct Iya. That's what Sesshomaru used the arm for. He took the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha and wielded it with no problem. He even demonstrated the Wind Scar in front of him."

"That had to be hard on Inuyasha." Iya commented. Closing his eyes and folding his hands, he added "I know if I had to learn that my own understanding of a sword that was given to me was shown that I didn't know much about my sword, I'd be surprised and disappointed with myself."

Nodding, Totosai brought the sword up for inspection before laying it back down and breathing fire onto it once more. Striking it again with his hammer, he replied "I know. I think that experience taught Inuyasha that he didn't know nearly the first thing about his sword. Anyways, with the help of Kagome, he managed to get Tetsusaiga back, but was badly wounded from the battle. Still, he struggled on and healed eventually."

"Good to hear." Iya replied while opening his eyes once more and smiling. "Was that the end of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha fighting?"

"Heh, one could only wish. Not long after that little incident, Sesshomaru tracked me down and began pushing me to make him a sword. To escape him, I ran to Inuyasha for protection."

Chuckling, Iya asked "Well, how did that turn out?"

"Not well." Totosai flatly said. "Upon meeting him, I realized he didn't have a clue on how to use the Tetsusaiga. He didn't understand it's true power. Sesshomaru showed up while I was there, and the two fought. During the fight, Sesshomaru blinded Inuyasha with his poison, which was the best thing he could have done. Being blinded, Inuyasha managed to smell the Wind Scar, thus learning how to use it. He sliced at the Wind Scar and struck Sesshomaru, who was saved by Tenseiga."

"Tenseiga actually saved him?" Iya asked in a bit of shock.

Nodding, Totosai replied "Yep, it did. I was shocked myself. After that, I left the group."

"Well, at least Inuyasha got on the right path." Iya happily said.

Breathing fire onto the sword once more, the old man nodded, saying "Yep, but the next time I saw the fool, I swear, I was so sad!"

"What could have made you sad old fool?" Ichigo mocked.

Glaring at the orange haired young man, Totosai spat out "You fool, pay me some respect!"

"Whatever…" Ichigo remarked.

"Never mind him Master Totosai. What happened?" Iya asked.

Frowning, Totosai finally said "That damn fool Inuyasha, he fought one of Naraku's incarnations. The demon snapped the Tetsusaiga in half!"

"In half!? How could a demon possibly have the strength to do that!?" Iya questioned.

Scratching his chin for a moment, Totosai finally responded "I'm not sure, but it did. That wasn't the worst part. When this happened, Inuyasha was already badly wounded from a previous battle. Once the demon destroyed the Tetsusaiga, the demon attacked Inuyasha and wounded him badly, nearly killing him. The demon then went to attempt to attack Kagome and the others traveling with them, but before he could, Inuyasha was back up and ripped the demon's arm off. Kagome described to me what happened, telling me Inuyasha transformed into a full demon. In his new form, he easily tore the demon apart, but afterwards, was very unsure of what to do. The lust to kill was still in him, but Kagome managed to calm Inuyasha down."

"That's a relief." Iya mumbled.

"Yeah, it was." Totosai agreed. Crocodile tears instantly sprang from his eyes as he said "Not long after that, Inuyasha brought the pieces of Tetsusaiga to me. Oh my beautiful masterpiece was ruined!"

Sniffling a bit, Totosai pulled the tears back in and cleared his throat. "I immediately reforged the Tetsusaiga using Inuyasha's fang. There was a problem with that though. Due that I used his fang to repair the Tetsusaiga, it became heavy to him due that he had yet to achieve a power level equal to your father's."

Frowning, Iya mumbled "That means Inuyasha had to achieve something father didn't then, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did, and that was the problem. Inuyasha continued to lose control of himself due that he couldn't fight well with the Tetsusaiga, plus he would often lose his grip on it. The only thing that could help him regain control was grasping Tetsusaiga, but forcing him to take hold was difficult. Kagome and the others had many difficulties in making him take hold." Totosai explained.

"Eventually, he came to me after an incident where he killed some human bandits that were under the command of a moth demon. After blowing away the moth demon, he killed many of the bandits. Kagome couldn't get him under control either, but Sesshomaru surprisingly stepped in."

"Sesshomaru? Why did he do that?" Iya asked with a touch of shock.

Smirking, the old man replied "I'm guessing he didn't want Inuyasha to die just yet, so he knocked him out. Once he did, Kagome gave him Tetsusaiga, making Inuyasha return to normal. When Inuyasha came to and saw what he had done, he was greatly ashamed of himself and came to me for help. He was tired of transforming, not to mention terrified that he'd kill his comrades next time. So, I told him that there was only one thing left to do. For him to do something his father couldn't do, and I knew of only one thing."

Sighing deeply, Totosai closed his eyes and then slowly reopened them. In a cold voice, he said "To kill Ryuukossei."

Iya simply gasped at the statement. Ichigo, being clueless, asked "Who the hell is Ryuukossei?"

"You've not heard of him!?" Iya asked in a touch of shock.

Shrugging, Ichigo replied "No, I've not. Is he some kind of big shot demon or something?"

"He's the one that nearly defeated my father!" Iya roughly remarked.

Realization hit Ichigo then, making him utter "Oh…"

Staring at the fire across the room, Iya mumbled "It took everything father had to seal that dragon into a deep sleep. The wounds he suffered from the fight nearly killed him, but they did lead him to his death."

"I didn't know. Sorry for asking." Ichigo nonchalantly replied.

Sighing, Iya said "It's alright." Turning his attention to Totosai, he asked "Why did you even suggest Inuyasha do such a thing!?"

"I knew that the only way for Inuyasha to get strong enough to wield the Tetsusaiga was to kill Ryuukossei. There was no other way." Totosai calmly said. "Unfortunately, things didn't to as planned. Naraku interfered and freed Ryuukossei from his slumber. He began fighting with Inuyasha, who eventually was separated from Tetsusaiga. When that happened, well, you can guess from there on what happened to him."

"Another transformation." Ichigo answered.

Nodding, Totosai replied "Yes. He stood a chance with his claws at least, but he wouldn't be able to wield the Tetsusaiga, and it was his only chance to make it lighter. Oddly enough though, Inuyasha managed to take control of his demonic form and took hold of Tetsusaiga once more. Once he did, he revered back to his half demon form, and the Tetsusaiga became light enough to wield. He continued his battle with Ryuukossei, only to soon enough discover he could use the Wind Scar now without finding the place where the demonic winds were scraping together. Still, Ryuukossei was too strong for the Wind Scar. Inuyasha didn't give up though, and in the end, learned a technique that I never thought he could master."

Frowning, Iya thought for a moment before slowly saying "You don't mean the Backlash Wave, do you?"

"Yes, I do. He learned to use it in the midst of battle, and defeated Ryuukossei. That dragon was blown apart and nothing was left of him. Inuyasha did what your father couldn't, which was beat Ryuukossei. That is when I started believing he would move on to learn more about Tetsusaiga."

Pounding the sword once more with his hammer, Totosai laid down his hammer and examined the sword once more. Setting it down, he smiled, saying "Since then, he's only gotten stronger. He managed to learn many a strong techniques and has become quite a young man."

"I see." Iya calmly remarked. "What of Sesshomaru? Did he ever learn to use Tenseiga?"

Nodding, Totosai replied "He did, and eventually I reforged it like I promised I would when he was ready. He eventually lost the strength Tenseiga gained, but found new strength in Bakusaiga, along with a new arm."

Smiling, Iya calmly said "Good to hear."

Standing up, Totosai stretched his back and then handed the sword to Iya, saying "I sharpened Ketsaiga to perfection. It should be more than ready for battle now. I must say, you did a much better job at taking care of your sword than Inuyasha."

Standing up, Iya smiled and placed his sword back in it's sheath. "Thanks."

Turning to Ichigo, Totosai asked "Would you like me to sharpen your sword also?"

"Eh, it's alright." Ichigo replied.

"You sure? It looks like a very nice masterpiece, and it would be a shame to let it grow dull." Totosai pressed.

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo finally said "Sure, why not."

Standing up, Ichigo drew his sword from it's sheath and handed it to Totosai, who examined the blade carefully. "This sword is very familiar in design. Who was it's forger?"

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo finally said "His name is Kisuke Urahara. He forged this sword for my clan many years ago."

"Did you say Kisuke Urahara?" Totosai asked with a bit of shock in his eyes.

Frowning, Ichigo irritably replied "Are you deaf or something!? I said the man's name was Kisuke Urahara! Sheesh, listen carefully next time old man."

"That must mean you're a descendant of the Kurosaki Clan."

"Yeah, I suppose I am." Ichigo nonchalantly replied.

Frowning, Totosai said "But you aren't a full bobcat demon. That much is for sure. Not even half demon I think."

Growling, Ichigo reached out to take hold of his sword, saying "I don't have time for this. Give it back."

Dodging, Totosai continued to examine the blade before sitting down. "Calm down, I'll work on the sword."

Glaring at the old man, Ichigo stormed out of the house, leaving Iya glaring at Totosai.

"Master Totosai, was that really necessary to berate him over his heritage!?" Iya hotly asked.

Blowing fire onto the sword and striking it with his hammer, Totosai replied "I just can't believe a young man like him is a part of the Kurosaki Clan. I mean, what was the leader of the clan thinking…"

Smacking the back of Totosai's head hard enough to cause a small lump to pop up, Iya growled out "Mind your manners Totosai! Ichigo is far stronger than you think he is! His power is nearly equal to my own!"

"That's kind of sad." Totosai stated and earned himself another smack from Iya. "You're acting more like Inuyasha now."

Crossing his arms, Iya roughly remarked "There is good reason for it. Ichigo might not be a full demon, or hell, even a half demon, but he's still strong and a member of the Kurosaki Clan, so treat him with some respect!"

"Fine, fine, I will." Totosai responded while touching his two lumps on his head. "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

"You deserved it." Iya replied while walking out of the house.

Finding Ichigo was missing outside, Iya sighed and began sniffing the air. After a few minutes, he finally picked up his scent and began trailing him. Not five minutes later, Iya finally found Ichigo at a nearby river, tossing stones in.

Hearing Iya, Ichigo growled out "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry for that." Iya said with a heavy sigh. "I had no idea he would say something like that."

Staring out at the water, Ichigo finally replied "It's alright. I just wish everyone who knew of my clan would shut up about how much of a demon I am."

"Don't feel bad." Iya consoled. "I'm only a half demon, and I get it just as badly sometimes. I was lucky when my father lived. He demanded everyone treat me equally, thus I had no problems. Almost all of my clan has and always will I suppose. Of course, with him gone now, I do receive some lip about it sometimes."

Still with his back to Iya, Ichigo said with a touch of sadness in his voice "Yet you're a half demon. I'm just a quarter, thus I barely exist to demons. I'm nearly mixed in with humans."

Putting a comforting hand on Ichigo's shoulder, Iya softly smiled, saying "Trust me, it's better to be what you are than a transformed full demon who is mindless and wishes to do nothing but kill everyone. Besides, at least humans aren't afraid of you, unlike me who has all of them in a panic."

"True, they don't run from me till they find out what I am." Ichigo remarked. Turning, Ichigo flashed a cocky smile. "Thanks Iya."

"You're welcome. Now, let's get back before Totosai melts down your sword for scrap metal." Iya joked.

Snarling, Ichigo rushed forward towards the cave, yelling "That damn fool better not!"

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Upon returning to Totosai's, Ichigo's sword was sharpened and awaiting him. Preparing to leave, Iya said "Thank you for sharpening our swords Master Totosai."

"No problem. I enjoyed getting to see another of my masterpieces return." Totosai replied with a smile.

"Master Totosai, I have something to ask." Iya began lightly.

"Oh, well ask away." Totosai responded.

"Do you know where Sesshomaru might be?"

Frowning, Totosai shook his head, saying "No clue."

Sighing, Iya glanced back at Ichigo. Looking back, he replied "Very well. I guess we have no choice but to travel to Lady Shankoutetsu's castle and ask her for help."

"Are you insane boy!?" Totosai asked with a touch of anger. "That woman hates you and would rather die than tell you anything."

"I know, but I'm to the point I have to go. She would know for sure where Sesshomaru is." Iya remarked.

Bowing lightly, Iya added "Thank you for your help Master Totosai. I hope to see you once more."

Returning the bow, Totosai replied "The honor was mine to help you out. Safe journey to you both."

Ichigo only grunted in reply and Iya waved good bye. Together, the pair walked side by side away from the volcano house.

"So, where to now?" Ichigo asked.

Sighing heavily, Iya mumbled "We're going to have to go visit my half brother's mother. She should know where her son is."

"She nice?" Ichigo smugly asked.

"No…" Iya simply stated. "She's rather unbearable. By the way, she doesn't like me in the least bit."

"That's just great."


	2. Chapter 2: Confrontation

**Hey everyone. Well, I see the first chapter got a few hits, but not many reviews, but that's cool. Happens all the time, lol. Anyways, since I did get a review, I'll go ahead and answer it.**

**ardee: Thanks for the review. Yeah, you missed review number 500 in **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**, but you did get the first one here, hehe. Thanks about Iya. I worked on his character a good bit. Things will be interesting when they reach Lady Shankoutetsu's castle, that is for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Ok, without further ado, I'll begin the chapter!**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: My main character's name.**

**Nytemayr-Shatterd-DayDreams: Sesshomaru's mother's name**

**Yukina-Raven: Name of my main character's sword.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Chapter 2**

Stretching out his lean body, Iya yawned lightly and dropped to the ground from the tree he had been sleeping in. Looking over to see Ichigo was already up and doing his morning exercises, Iya walked over.

"Good morning Ichigo. Sleep well?"

Stopping, Ichigo stood up from the ground and said "Yeah, good enough I suppose. Ready to move out?"

Nodding in response, Iya replied "Yes, let's get started. We should arrive at Lady Shankoutetsu's castle sometime today, I hope."

"Well then, I suppose we should head out." Ichigo remarked while slinging his heavy sword over his shoulder and adjusting his kimono top.

"Right."

The pair instantly began running off in the direction of the east. Iya led the way while leaping from tree to tree. Ichigo easily kept pace with Iya as the pair covered ground quickly.

After traveling for an hour, Ichigo broke the silence and asked "So, this Lady Shankoutetsu, she's your older brother's mother?"

Nodding in response, Iya calmly said "Yeah, she is. She's not fond of me though. I only met her a handful of times before, and let's just say, they didn't end well."

Chuckling, Ichigo looked ahead. After a few minutes, he finally said "Iya, you know, you've never mentioned much about your clan. I mean, it's been twenty years now since we started traveling together. There a reason why you don't talk about them?"

"No, not really." Iya remarked. "Only three of the Taisho Clan are still alive. There is my older half brother, myself, and my younger half brother. We all three share the same father, but each have different mothers."

"Sounds like your father got around." Ichigo teased.

Instantly, Iya stopped and stood still. Glaring at Ichigo, he replied "He wasn't like that."

Seeing his comment struck a nerve, Ichigo apologetically said "I'm sorry. Didn't mean anything by it."

"It's alright." Iya said with a sigh. "My father mated twice. Once with my brother's mother, whom we're going to go see right now, and the other time with my younger brother's mother."

Frowning, Ichigo asked "What about your mom?"

Heavily sighing, Iya looked up at the sky for a moment. Finally, he said "They were friends."

Noting how Iya was acting, Ichigo scowled and gruffly said "Ah, forget about it. I was just being nosy."

"More like your usual self." Iya snidely remarked.

Both lightly chuckled at the comment till Iya stopped suddenly and took a sniff at the passing breeze. Taking the scent in once more, Iya lightly growled and glared off in the direction of the wind.

"Take a sniff of what just came our way." Iya growled out.

Breathing in the wind, Ichigo instantly grabbed the hilt of his sword. "It's one of them, and it's just the one I want!"

Ichigo instantly ran off at top speed in the direction the scent came from. Following closely, Iya moved swiftly and took another sniff at the oncoming breeze.

"Smells like he's been busy." Iya growled.

"Yeah, I can smell the smoke, and I'm starting to see the flames also up ahead."

Taking another whiff, Iya growled once more, saying "I can smell blood, and lots of it."

Letting out a small growl himself, Ichigo pushed more speed out and ran faster. Iya quickly compensated and followed closely.

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Arriving at the village, the pair found several huts burning still, and several smoldering skeletons, with some still having burning flesh on them. They also found several bodies with deep slash marks on them.

Quickly walking towards the end of the village where they heard some commotion, Iya and Ichigo quickly found the source of the disturbance.

In the square of the village sat a young man with outstretched hands over a young woman who had mid-back length black hair pooled around her. His hands glowed with power, showing he was casting a spell. He had long red hair that was held back in a band, and wore a black set of robes.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE KENSHIN!" Iya screamed out while continuing to rush forward.

Looking up, the young man named Kenshin turned to find Iya standing in front of him. He bore a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and had soft violet eyes. Smiling, he said "Why if it isn't Iya Taisho? I'm surprised to see you again, yes I am."

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BASTARD!" Ichigo screamed while running straight for Kenshin with his sword drawn out. In a single side slash, he swung his sword, only to hit thin air.

Kenshin quickly reappeared off to the side five feet away with a smile still on his face. With kind words, he said "Now, now, that wasn't nice, no it was not. After being away from one another for so long, I'd think you'd have some kind words, that I would."

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo screamed while charging at the red haired young man once more.

Like before, Ichigo quickly swung his sword at a side slash move, but Kenshin quickly moved out of the way. This time though, when he reappeared, he was nearly struck by Ichigo coming around with another side slash. At the last moment, Kenshin had reacted and dropped downwards. A few hairs on his head were taken off by the sword Ichigo swung, but that was all the damage received. Kenshin quickly recovered and jumped backwards.

Smiling once more, Kenshin said "Wow, you've improved, that you have."

Glancing at the girl, he finally sighed and added "I suppose I could fight you two, but for now, I shall leave. After all, not long from now, she'll come to me, that she will. And then I will get what I want."

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! DIE MURDERER!" Ichigo roared as he charged Kenshin.

Sidestepping the oncoming attack easily, Kenshin began making runic symbols with his hands. Finally, he waved his hand to his left, opening a glowing blue portal.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Ichigo screamed while swinging his sword at Kenshin.

The blade's tip just barely missed Kenshin as he stepped into the portal, seemingly unaffected by Ichigo's attack. While he vanished, a smirk formed on Kenshin's lips just as the portal closed.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" Ichigo cursed as he slammed his free hand into the ground, making a large impact crater.

"Calm down Ichigo." Iya admonished. "We'll get him soon enough. In the meantime, we have a new problem."

Glancing down at the young woman, Iya walked over and crouched down beside of her. Gently, he turned her over onto her stomach and glanced at her neck. There on the back of it was a light grey symbol that Iya had expected.

Deeply sighing, he glanced around and saw the many humans coming out of hiding. Each glared at him, with one yelling "You monster, get away from her!"

Turning the girl back onto her back, Iya looked at her many features. She had fair creamy skin, a body with many curves in the right places, and wore a beautiful purple kimono with a yellow butterfly embroidered into it. Her scent was heavy with the smell of fresh raspberries.

Gently pulling the young woman into his arms, Iya stood with the girl being carried bridal style and received a shocked look from Ichigo.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

With a simple reply, Iya said "Taking her with us."

"Ah hell no, we're not taking her with us!" Ichigo growled out.

Sighing heavily, Iya motioned his head towards the villagers who were grabbing up farm tools, and asked "Would you rather leave her with them? When she transforms, those villagers will kill her. I figure it's better we take her for now. It's not permanent."

Grunting, Ichigo sheathed his sword and said "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, we'd better if we don't want any trouble." Iya quickly replied.

Rushing off towards the edge of town, both Iya, with the young woman in his arms, and Ichigo moved at incredible speed. The few villagers that came out yelled for him to stop, but none could catch up.

One couple came out of a hut, with the old man swinging a farmer's tool wildly. An older woman behind him came rushing out, yelling "LET GO OF MY DAUGHTER DEMON!"

Glancing at the woman and the man for a moment, Iya felt sympathy for them, but continued running. "_If only they knew what was really going to happen to their daughter, I'd be their least of their worries._"

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Putting a bit of distance between themselves and the village, but staying within a few miles of it, Iya and Ichigo stopped at a stream. Building a makeshift bed for the young woman, Iya laid her down on it.

"I'll get a fire started. You want to get some dinner?" Iya asked.

Shrugging, Ichigo walked off towards the woods to hunt. Gathering up some dry wood that was laying about on the ground, Iya placed it in a spot and then moved some rocks to make a small fire pit. Satisfied with his pit, Iya placed the dry sticks within and grabbed a few rocks. Repeatedly striking them together, he finally got a set of sparks to ignite some of the smaller kindling. Placing the rest of the dry wood in, Iya smiled as he fire grew.

Getting up, he quickly found a tree that he gathered would contain enough wood for the entire night. Flexing his claws, ice formed on the tips of his claws. With a sweeping motion, Iya slashed the tree cleanly, making it fall to the ground. Carving it up into pieces, he carried a load back to the site where the girl laid.

Placing a few bigger pieces into the fire, Iya checked on the girl once more and sighed. "It's a shame this happened to you." he mumbled.

Looking her over, he kindly smiled and ran his clawed hand through her black silky hair. "I bet the boys of your village all liked you. Heh, if I had to guess, I'd assume you were the one they all wanted." he mused softly.

Hearing something coming, he stood back up and went to tending the fire. A minute later, Ichigo came out of the woods holding two rabbits in his hands by their ears.

"Got dinner." Ichigo gruffly said and threw them down beside the fire.

Eying them, Iya asked "Are you going to get them ready?"

"Since I caught them, I figured you'd fix them." Ichigo said with a smirk.

Glaring at Ichigo, Iya growled lowly, making Ichigo slightly uncomfortable. After a moment, he walked over and picked up the rabbits, saying "Actually, I'll take care of it."

Smirking in triumph while Ichigo walked off to get dinner ready, Iya grabbed a flask out of his kimono and noted it was nearly out of water. "Better fill up while I can." he grumbled.

Going to the stream, Iya dipped his canteen in and filled it till it brimmed with water. Going back to the camp site, he grabbed a few sticks large enough to support the rabbits to cook on and whittled them down a bit using his claws.

Ichigo soon returned with the two skinned rabbits and placed them on sticks, then set them into the fire to cook. He soon walked down to the stream and washed up before coming back and taking a seat on a log Iya had pulled in to relax on.

"So, any change in her yet?" Ichigo asked.

Shaking his head, Iya replied "No, not yet. I'd say it'll be dark when it begins. The transformation always takes place during night it seems."

"Yeah…" Ichigo mumbled while looking to be lost in thought.

"About earlier…" Iya began.

"Forget about it." Ichigo finished. "I got angry, and got sloppy. It was my mistake."

Sighing heavily, Iya looked at Ichigo and said "You've got to try and stay calm when you fight him. He'll kill you if you don't use that head of yours."

"I know, but when I see him…"

Placing a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, Iya smiled kindly, saying "You get angry. I know. It happens. Just remember, if you're going to beat him, you've got to remain calm. Your anger will get you killed against Kenshin."

"It's hard to forget about her Iya. I've tried so hard…"

"You shouldn't." Iya instantly interrupted. Looking at Iya with great confusion, Ichigo waited for an answer. "She's a part of your past Ichigo. You'll never fully forget her that much is for sure."

Looking up at the sky, Iya sadly smiled, adding "I know I can't forget people in my life that I want to forget. Just trust me on this one, it's best not to forget sometimes. The memories of the person you try to forget usually give us good things, so don't let her memory fade away."

Turning back to look at Ichigo, Iya smiled once more. "Besides, the memories of the people we try to forget also give us strength. Use your memories of her to help you fight, but don't let the anger you felt from losing her cloud your mind. Just remember what you're fighting for."

"Yeah, I know… I just wish it hadn't ended the way it did. I will fulfill my promise I made to her though, no matter what." Ichigo remarked.

"We all have things we promised to do Ichigo. Whether you choose to honor that promise or not is what defines you."

Glaring at Iya with a grumpy look, Ichigo mumbled "Damn philosophy…"

"It helps, don't it?" Iya wryly remarked.

Getting up, Ichigo checked on the rabbits and turned one side of the meat further in. Sitting back down, he glanced at the girl and asked "What do we do about her?"

"We look after her till she wakes up." Iya replied calmly. "If we're lucky, she won't be afraid of me and run off."

Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo mockingly asked "And if we're not lucky?"

Sighing heavily, Iya stared at the fire for a moment. "She'll run back to her village, where she'll be killed probably."

"Even if she doesn't run off, what are we going to do with her?" Ichigo pressed.

Thinking for a moment, Iya finally said "I'm not sure. We can't just leave her here. Without any kind of training, she'll die of starvation, that or be killed by something. Either way, we really can't leave her."

"We're not taking her with us." Ichigo quickly stated.

Glancing at Ichigo, Iya lightly chuckled, saying "No choice in this matter. We are responsible for her."

"NO, you are responsible for HER!" Ichigo growled out. "You're the one who grabbed her and dragged her along!"

"Ichigo…" Iya lightly growled. "We have to take care of her. If I must, I will do what I can to protect her."

Pausing for a moment, he lightly sighed and added "Besides, I think I know what we can do with her once we go to Lady Shankoutetsu's castle. I'll see if she'll take her in, and if she won't, I'll ask Sesshomaru to take her in at the Western Stronghold."

"Do you think either demon will let her stay?"

Staring at the fire, Iya watched it dancing. Finally, he said "I don't know…"

"That's encouraging." Ichigo replied with a smirk.

Grabbing one of the rabbits off the fire, Ichigo carefully peeled it open to see the meat was done. Throwing it to Iya, who expertly caught it, Ichigo grabbed the other and blew on his rabbit.

"Looks yummy." Iya teased.

"Be thankful I cooked it for you." Ichigo growled out.

Chuckling, Iya bit into his rabbit, tearing into it with his sharp fangs and chewed it up. After a moment, he finally said "Not bad."

The pair continued to eat their meal in silence before finally finishing up and throwing the bones away. Standing up and stretching, Ichigo yawned.

"I'm going to go train for a while. Be back later." he said while walking away with a hand wave.

Throwing a few more pieces of wood onto the fire, Iya poked it and pushed the wood closer into the hot embers. Finishing up, Iya walked over to the girl and saw she was sweating greatly and lightly panting.

"Figures, she's burning up from the demon blood taking root." he mumbled.

Walking down to the water, he pulled a small rag out of his kimono and dipped it into the water. Wringing it out, he placed it back in again and wrung it out till it still had some water left. Going back to the camp, Iya placed the rag on the girl's forehead and wiped it off before placing it on her forehead once more.

Seeing the girl still panting heavily, Iya sighed heavily and felt his face begin to turn a shade of pink. "I really don't want to do this, but you're burning up and I have to cool you off somehow."

Pulling his sword out of his obi sash, Iya laid it on the ground. Next, he pulled on his obi, which instantly came loose and allowed his kimono to slowly open. Sleeve by sleeve, he pulled his kimono off, leaving his under kimono exposed. Carefully, he laid it over the girl, covering her entire chest down to her upper thighs.

Reaching under the kimono with brightly glowing pink cheeks, Iya carefully found the obi sash to the girl's kimono and untied it. Gently, while watching where he placed his hands, he pushed the girl's kimono open and laid each side of the sash to each of her sides. Grabbing the wash cloth once again, he walked down to the stream once more and wet the cloth before returning. Coming back, he gently used the cloth to rub her face down and then moved it to her upper chest, then down her arms, and finally to her mid-thigh down.

Finished, Iya once more washed the cloth in the stream and placed it back on her forehead. Reaching underneath the kimono once more, Iya pulled her kimono back up onto her body and adjusted it to cover her. Satisfied that it was, Iya tucked his own kimono top in around her. Grabbing his obi sash, he retied it and placed Ketsaiga back within it. Sitting back down onto the log, he began to stare at the dancing flames.

Twitching his ears, Iya closed his eyes and began stretching out with all of his senses and checked to make sure nothing was near that could present him with trouble. In the distance, he could sense Ichigo's aura flaring up somewhat, but not at the level that would lead him to believe Ichigo was in trouble. Creatures that lived within the forest were stirring, but other than that, Iya couldn't sense any danger.

Opening his eyes, Iya glanced at the girl and softly sighed. Moving to check on her, he squatted down and felt her forehead. She was still lightly panting, but she wasn't sweating as much.

Standing up, he grabbed the rag on her forehead and headed to the stream, once more dipping it into the cool water. Walking back, he heard her cry out, making him rush to her side quickly.

Arriving, Iya saw her body floating a few feet off the ground and had a red aura covering her body. His kimono easily slid off of her, leaving her floating with her untied kimono in the air. Her bones instantly began making a crackling sound, as if each were reshaping. At first, her toenails grew out to become clawed feet, then her hands changed till she had clawed hands. At the same time, her skin seemed to tighten a bit, and her muscles grew a bit more firm on her arms and legs. Her hair slowly began gaining red streaks in it, giving her a red and black hair color. She opened her mouth as she cried out, revealing fangs growing in. Moments later, her human ears vanished, only to be replaced by two small black cat ears on her head. A long black tail finally came out of the bottom of her kimono to complete the transformation.

At this point, her body slowly lowered back to the ground and she panted lightly still. Looking her over, head to toe, Iya lightly blushed at the sight.

"_She's so beautiful in her half demon form..._"

Shaking his head, Iya sighed and stood up. Realizing the cloth he had been cooling her off with was still in his hand, he walked back down to the stream and rewet it. Returning, he placed it on her head and placed his kimono top back on her, tucking it in once more. Taking in her new scent, Iya confirmed that she still smelled of fresh raspberries.

"_That scent, it's so pleasant…_" Shaking his head roughly once more, Iya walked over to the empty log and looked off in the other direction, trying hard to ignore the pleasant aroma coming off of the young transformed woman.

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Panting lightly, Ichigo wiped some blood off his face that was lightly trickling down it. Once more picking his sword up, he growled out "Damn it, I couldn't do it! Once more!"

Holding his sword out once more, he closed his eyes and he called forth to the sword to transform. It instantly followed his command, transforming from it's current state to a new sword. It no longer had a guard, only a hilt covered in a white bandage cloth with a strip of it hung loose on the end. The blade itself transformed so that it looked like a large butcher's knife that was as long as Ichigo's body. It was mostly black except for right near the edge of the blade that was bright silver.

Holding the sword perfectly still, he mentally said "_Come Zangetsu, let's try again._"

A figure of black energy slowly began to form like it had many times before in front of Ichigo's body. The black energy slowly began to take form of a man wearing a black trench coat with a white collar. He had long black hair, a goatee, and wore a pair of darkened sunglasses.

In a deep voice, he said "_Ichigo, are you sure you can continue? After all, you being just a quarter demon, you may never be able to unlock my true power._"

"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped angrily and flashed a glare at the older man. "I'm tired of you and everyone else saying I'm weak because I'm a quarter demon!"

Smirking, the man said "_Then come prove you're not._"

A sword, exactly the same as the one Ichigo held, appeared in front of the man with his hand resting on the hilt. Charging forward, Ichigo let loose a loud angry roar and swung at the man's head, but the older man dodged easily.

"_You'll never beat Kenshin with the feeble skills you have right now. Do you want to dishonor Rukia's memory like that?_" the older man taunted.

"SHUT UP ZANGETSU! I WILL DEFEAT KENSHIN, NO MATTER WHAT! HE'LL PAY FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO RUKIA!" Ichigo screamed. "I SWORE IT, AND I WILL CARRY THROUGH WITH MY PROMISE TILL I'M DEAD!"

Charging ahead once more, Ichigo swung at Zangetsu, only to hit the twin sword that Zangetsu wielded, sending out a small shower of sparks.

Smirking, Zangetsu mockingly said "_Come, make me use two hands at the least Ichigo._"

Growling loudly, Ichigo leapt backwards and let out a loud exhale. Closing his eyes, he began calming himself. Gripping his sword tightly, he felt his demonic aura begin to flare out. Reopening his eyes, they flashed blue for a moment, making Zangetsu lightly smirk.

"_Finally find your resolve boy?_" he mocked.

Raising his sword up with is right hand, Ichigo held it high as the demonic aura continued to pour out. The sword itself began letting out a howling sound as a blue aura flared around it and Ichigo's body.

Doing the same as Ichigo did, Zangetsu raised his own arm and began pouring out his own demonic aura, making the sword he held let out the same howl as Ichigo's. Smirking, he called out "_Can you make me submit Ichigo?_"

"I will defeat Kenshin and avenge Rukia, no matter what. I swore to do this, and I will no matter what the cost! And to do that, I must learn to fully wield you, meaning I will make you submit!" Ichigo stated calmly.

Grabbing hold of the sword's hilt with his second hand, Ichigo began pulling his sword downwards. Mirroring his moves, Zangetsu did the same. At the same time, the pair made a downwards cutting motion, sending out a huge wave of demonic aura. The aura's clashed together, forming a large domed sphere that engulfed a large area, sending out a huge explosion and rocking the entire forest. Smoke and dust plumed up from the blast, obscuring the area.

The smoke slowly dissipated and Iya quickly ran to the site. Looking around, he attempted to sniff the air, but found nothing but smoke and dust filled his senses.

"Damn it, I can't smell a thing." Iya mumbled while covering his face with his kimono's sleeve. "Ichigo, where are you!?"

Seeing a figure walking out of the smoke, Iya softly gasped at the sight of the man in dark clothing. On his shoulder was Ichigo. He gently set him down and lightly chuckled.

"_Ichigo, you nearly succeeded where so many in your clan have failed. Be glad that you got that close without dying._"

Turning to Iya, the man said "_Tell him when he awakes that he still has a ways to go._"

"I shall Zangetsu." Iya calmly replied.

The man instantly faded away, and the sword in Ichigo's hand reverted back to it's original long silver form. Iya walked over and attempted to take the sword from Ichigo's hand, but found it was securely held.

"No use in attempting to put it away for you." Iya quipped while scooping Ichigo up and slinging him over his back.

Looking once more at the site where the fight had taken place, Iya smirked. A large crater was now formed where a forest once stood.

"Just a little over the top there Ichigo, but I see you're still not there yet."

Turning, Iya walked back to camp and placed Ichigo down on the ground near the girl, allowing him to sleep. With patient hands, Iya applied some herbs to Ichigo's wounds and then bandaged them up.

Yawning once he finished, Iya stood and stretched. "I guess I should get some sleep myself since you two are out completely."

Bounding into a nearby tree, Iya moved to a sturdy branch near the top and leaned back against it. Slowly, his eyes closed, but his other senses stayed sharp while he drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Confusion and Sadness

**Hey everyone. Cool, I got a review, so I'll go ahead and do it.**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: Thanks about the start. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but for now, it's like once a week. I may go to twice, but we'll see. I need to get more wrote if I do that, lol. Ah, cool about the name. I corrected it now, so thanks for telling me. Heh, my version of Lady Shankotetsu should be interesting. She's coming up in the near future. Thanks for the review!**

**Ok, well, that's all the reviews. Lol, cool that I got two thus far. I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. Later!**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: Iya's name.**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: Sesshomaru's mother's name**

**Yukina-Raven: Ketsaiga's name.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Chapter 3**

Waking up in midmorning the next day, Iya yawned sleepily and stood up on the branch while stretching out his back. Looking down, he saw both Ichigo and the transformed girl still slept.

Leaping out of the tree, Iya walked down to the stream. Glancing around and then listening closely, as well as taking the scents of the area, he decided to travel upstream a bit. Getting far away enough to where no one could see him, Iya undressed and placed his clothing and Ketsaiga in a neat pile. He pulled the ribbon free from his hair, allowing his hair to spread out.

Jumping into the water, Iya began bathing himself and washing the grime off of his body. He relaxed in the current for a while before dunking himself once more and finally coming back up for air. Looking around, he found some fish nearby and easily threw them out of the water onto the bank.

Satisfied with the number of fish he had thrown out, he walked back out of the water back onto the bank. There, he began shaking himself dry, sending water everywhere. Picking his clothes up, he slowly slipped them back on and returned Ketsaiga to his side. Pulling his hair back into a pony tail, he placed the ribbon back in it.

Grabbing the fish up, he slowly trekked back to camp and found Ichigo and the transformed girl still slept. Restarting the fire, Iya set out to clean the fish. Finishing up with the task, he placed them on sticks and stuck them near to the fire to roast.

The roasting fish immediately awoke Ichigo, who grumbled lowly as he sat up with his hand covering his face. Removing his hand, he glanced around before yawning and noted Iya was up.

"What am I doing back here?" he sleepily asked.

Smirking, Iya replied "I dragged your wounded hide back here."

Frowning, Ichigo slowly asked "Did I beat him?"

"No, I'm sorry, you didn't."

Sighing heavily, Ichigo gripped the sword's hilt that was still in his hand tightly. "I was so close, and sure I had beaten him last night."

"He told me to that you had a ways to go, but that you were closer than anyone else in your clan has been." Iya commented.

Gripping the sword tightly still, Ichigo muttered "It's still not going to help me beat him into submission. I have to find a way."

"You will, I know it." Iya encouragingly replied. "Besides, to be better than the rest of your clan, that means something, and must have been hard for Zangetsu to admit."

"Perhaps…"

Sighing, Iya walked over to the fire and checked the fish. Finding they were done, he grabbed one and threw it to Ichigo, who caught it easily.

"I caught some fish. Better eat up."

"I'm not hungry…" Ichigo grumbled.

A loud rumbling sound at that moment instantly came from Ichigo's stomach, making him reexamine his decision and lightly blush. "Then again, I guess I could eat something." he mumbled while chomping down into his fish.

Chuckling, Iya ate his own fish silently. Glancing over at the girl, he noted she still slept, but was no longer seemingly in pain or panting.

"She going to make it?" Ichigo gruffly asked, interrupting Iya's thoughts.

"I believe she will. For now, the transformation is over. We just have to wait a few more hours before she wakes." Iya responded.

Getting up, Ichigo sheathed his sword and threw the remains of the fish into the fire. Grabbing another fish, he sat back down onto the log and began munching on it.

"I was so sure I had it last night…" he mumbled between bites.

Lightly chuckling, Iya patted him on the back and said "It'll come. Just give it a chance."

Finishing up with his fish, Ichigo threw the remains into the fire and stood. With a light limp, he began walking towards the woods, saying "I'm going to train some more."

"Alright, see you in a while." Iya replied as his friend vanished into the woods.

Checking on the girl once more, he found the rag on her forehead was dried out. Going to the stream, Iya dipped it in and wrung it out before returning. Placing it on her head, he saw her scrunching up her face. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open, revealing green emerald eyes that were trying to focus.

Seeing Iya, the young woman screamed and began backing away from him quickly. "Get away from me demon!" she frantically screamed as she backed into a tree and quickly stood up, pressing her back firmly against it.

Holding his hands out in a non-threatening way, Iya calmly said "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, I swear."

"You're a liar! Demons hate humans and kill them!" she venomously yelled.

Sighing, Iya pulled Ketsaiga from his belt and placed it on the ground. "There, I am unarmed, so please, don't be frightened."

"You've got claws, so that hardly matters!" she spat angrily.

Deeply sighing, Iya folded his arms and replied "I can't do anything about that. Please, just calm down."

Seeing something moving behind her, the girl shrieked and looked to find her tail. Taking hold of it, she yanked on it and realized it belonged to her. Her eyes widened more when she realized that her hands now had sharp claws, making her look back at Iya. Sputtering, she asked "What… what is this!?"

Growing angry once more, she yelled "YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU AND THAT MAN WHO ATTACKED ME MADE ME INTO A MONSTER!"

Flattening his ears to his head, Iya shook his head and calmly replied "I didn't attack you. I stopped him from taking you actually."

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'RE WORKING FOR HIM, AREN'T YOU!?" she accused.

Chuckling, Iya shook his head. "No, I don't work for Kenshin. I'm one of a few trying to stop him from doing what he did to you."

Growling, the girl snarled "I STILL DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Closing his eyes, Iya pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to stay calm. Once he had closed his eyes, the girl flew by him with incredible speed, racing back towards the village.

Knowing she would run, Iya reopened his eyes and sighed. Glancing at her fleeing form, he mumbled "Kami, why do I always have to wish to help."

Picking Ketsaiga up, he placed it back in his obi sash and grabbed his kimono top. Readjusting the two, Iya began tracking the girl down.

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The young transformed woman ran faster than she had ever thought she could. To her, the surrounding area was a blur, which was new to her. She enjoyed this new feeling, but at the same time it also frightened her. Following the stream, she glanced ahead toward the upcoming village.

"Momma and Poppa will know what to do." she quietly mumbled while running harder.

Arriving at the village, she ran into a few human women who shrieked out at her, waving their hands in fear. "Ah, it's a demon!"

Stopping dead in her tracks, the girl shook her head, crying out to them "No, I'm not a demon! It's me…"

Before she could say her name, the women fled into nearby huts. A large commotion soon began, but the girl didn't wait around for it. She instantly went straight for her parents hut, hoping to find them there.

Arriving, she opened the flap to their hut. Their hut was bigger than the rest due that she was the headman's daughter. Walking in, she called out "Momma, Poppa!? It's me, Lilly!"

Her mother soon walked out of a different room, but instantly shrieked at the sight of Lilly. Moving her hands to cover her ears, Lilly quickly realized her human ears were missing. Unaware of it, her cat ears flattened to her head and she quickly ran out of the hut with the screaming still ringing in her ears.

By this time, the villagers had gathered around, many carrying farmers tools. Lilly looked around with worried eyes and put her hands out defensively, screaming "It's me, Lilly! Why don't you recognize me!?"

"Demon, what have you done with my daughter!?" a voice commanded, making Lilly turn around to see her father coming out of the hut with anger visible.

The man had black as coal eyes, black hair held up in a pony tail, and a lean, muscular body. In his right hand, he held a scythe, and he was looking with a hard glare at Lilly.

Shocked, Lilly cried out "It's me, Lilly! Why don't you recognize me, Poppa!?"

"You lie demon! My daughter is human, and you are most definitely a demon! Now tell us what you have done with her!" the man yelled. "Did you kill her and take her clothes, thinking we'd mistake you for her!?"

Tears instantly sprang from Lilly's emerald eyes while she shook her head rapidly, sobbing out "I'm your daughter Poppa. Why can't you realize that!?"

Someone in the crowd threw a stone at her, striking her forehead and making blood instantly begin to drip down. Afraid, Lilly backed up and pressed herself against the front part of the hut while the crowd continued to move in on her.

"I bet you killed my daughter and took her clothes! I truly loved my daughter, and would have given anything for her sake, but you killed her in cold blood!" Lilly's father coldly declared. "For that, I will not show mercy. You shall die demon."

Pulling his scythe back, the man coldly glared at Lilly and prepared to strike her, who only stood on shock and complete fear. Tears streamed down her face and she shook her head rapidly, sobbing out "No, father, don't, it's me! Please don't do this!"

Seemingly unconcerned with her plea, the man swung his scythe downwards towards Lilly's head, who only crouched down and covered her head with her hands. Before contact could be made, a whip of blue energy suddenly struck the scythe's blade, severing it from the handle and sending it flying to the ground with a metal thud.

Turning to see Iya ten feet behind the crowd, they heard him sternly say "That's enough."

Walking forward towards Lilly, Iya stayed on high alert as the villagers spread out, moving quickly out of his path.

"It's the same demon that attacked yesterday!" one of the villagers yelled out.

Stopping in his tracks, Iya glared in the direction of the one that said this and replied "I didn't attack your village. The demon mage known as Kenshin attacked, and I interrupted his attack."

"YOU'RE A LIAR DEMON! YOU'VE COME HERE TO KILL US ALL!" another villager shouted out with fear.

Heavily sighing, Iya only ignored the villager and continued walking to Lilly. The crowd continued to backup away from Iya, giving him plenty of room. Reaching her, he found her still cowering on the ground in a crouched position with her arms raised over her head. Softly, he soothingly said "It's alright now."

Lowering her arms, Lilly stared up in shock at him. Offering a kind hand to her to help her up, he patiently waited on her to take it. After a few moments of hesitation, she finally accepted his offer. With his help, she was on her feet once more and stared with fear and tears at her father, who was now flanked by her mother.

"Momma… it's me, please, you have to believe me. It's really me…" she pleaded.

Glaring at her, the woman snarled "I don't have a demon daughter! My daughter is dead, and it's because of you demon! Don't think your ruse of wearing my daughter's clothes can fool me!"

Lilly only broke down into a crying fit at these words. Feeling his own heart breaking at this display put on by the villagers, Iya snarled "You people are blind!"

Turning to Lilly, he quietly said "You have two choices. Stay here and die by your family's hand, or leave the village. I leave this choice up to you."

That said, Iya began walking away, leaving Lilly staring at his retreating form. Turning to her parents once more, she sobbed out "Please, believe me, Momma, Poppa, it's really me. It's your Lilly."

"You're no daughter of ours demon!" her father roared.

Feeling her whole world crashing down around her, Lilly bolted after Iya with tears streaming down her face the whole way. She finally caught up with him just as he reached the edge of the village, yelling "Please, wait for me!"

Stopping, Iya waited a moment for her to catch up. Seeing how distraught she was, he crouched down, softly giving her a command. "Get on my back."

"What?" she asked through her sobs.

"I'll carry you. Don't worry, I promise not to drop you." Iya soothingly said.

Looking behind her at the angry villagers she had grown up with and known her whole life, Lilly nodded and climbed solemnly onto Iya's back. Gripping his shoulders tightly while he stood up, she glanced once more at the village. Without letting her say another thing, Iya took off running, leaving the village behind them.

The pair soon arrived back at the campsite where Iya had stopped the night before. Upon arriving, Lilly slid off of his back and fell to the ground crying.

"_I hate seeing her like this._" Iya complained in his mind. In a rash decision, he dropped to the ground and pulled her into his lap and into a warm embrace, allowing her to sob into his kimono while he rubbed soothing circles on the small of her back. She immediately embraced him back and continued sobbing.

"There, there…" Iya cooed to her while she continued to sob.

After crying for an hour, she finally pulled back and looked up at Iya with puffy eyes and a few stray tears flowing down her tear streaked cheeks.

"Thank you…" she muttered and buried her head back into his kimono.

Softly sighing, Iya continued to rub her back with his hand, softly saying "It's alright."

At long last, she pulled away and moved a few feet away. Sniffling a bit, she stared up at the sky, mumbling aloud "What happened to me?"

"I'm sorry this happened." Iya answered sadly.

Immediately, Lilly glanced at him, asking "What do you mean?"

Deeply sighing, Iya calmly said "If I had caught Kenshin's scent sooner, maybe me and Ichigo could have stopped him before he cast his spell on you."

Seeing her confusion, Iya softly smiled. "Why don't you tell me what happened yesterday?"

Slightly nodding, she deeply sighed and slowly said "Yesterday, I was outside hanging up clothes to dry for my mother. While out there, I heard a commotion and went to look to see what was happening. When I did, some guy with long red hair grabbed me and began saying something. He was speaking in some kind of language that I couldn't understand, and I felt sleepy suddenly and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found you staring at me…"

Looking at the ground, she apologetically added "I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's alright. I understand that you were afraid of me." Iya calmly said with a small smile.

"My parents, they didn't recognize me…" she mumbled with fresh tears sliding down her cheeks.

Sighing, Iya placed a calming hand on her shoulder, saying "They're just blind and can't see the truth before them, that's all. Besides, your appearance has changed a bit from your human form."

Seeing the curious look on her face, Iya pointed to the stream and said "Go take a look at your reflection and you'll see what I mean."

Standing up, she walked down to the stream and glanced at her reflection and saw that her hair now had red streaks, two black cat ears were on her head, green eyes, sharp fangs, claws, and a black tail sticking out of her kimono. "Is that really me…" she softly asked.

Turning and returning to Iya, who was standing now, she shyly asked "What am I?"

"You're a half demon. Actually, a half neko or cat demon to be more specific."

Lowering her head, she timidly asked "Will I ever go back to being a human?"

Looking away, Iya took a few steps away before stopping. "No… I'm sorry, but the spell can't be reversed, as far as I know."

"I had a feeling you'd say that…" she mumbled as tears slid down her cheeks and she fell to the ground in a heap.

Sitting back down near her, Iya put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Try not to be sad. I know this is hard to accept, but it is the way things are. Besides, you have more than becoming human again to worry about."

Looking at Iya inquisitively with tears still rolling down her cheeks, she asked "What do you mean?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Iya slowly said "Whenever a mage like Kenshin casts the spell to transform a human into a half demon, there is always a secondary spell chained with it. The spell takes the form of a seal on the back of your neck."

Reaching up to touch the back of her neck, Lilly gently scraped along it with her claws and frowned. "What is on it?"

"It's an insignia stamp that binds you to Kenshin. You see, right now, it is a faint grey color, but over the course of the next thirty days, it will darken more and more till it is solid black color. Once it is, you will lose all control over your body, mind, and soul. Kenshin will own you completely and be able to command you to do anything he pleases." Iya explained.

Fresh tears slid out of Lilly's eyes as she began to sob once more. Seeing her raw pain made Iya nearly turn away, but he didn't, and softly said "There is some hope though."

Brightening a little, she asked "What?"

"If Kenshin is killed before the thirty days are up, the stamp will vanish, and you'll be free to live out the rest of your life. Unfortunately, you cannot become human again, but you'll be free of his clutches."

"That's promising at the least." Lilly softly mumbled. Noting Iya was suddenly looking away with a look of worry, she asked "What is it?"

Deeply sighing, Iya sadly muttered "I've never been able to free someone from this spell before."

"You mean… I'm going to become his slave still!?" Lilly cried out in frustration. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and sat her head onto them while fresh tears fell.

Immediately, she felt a warm embrace surround her and opened her eyes to see Iya was holding her. "I promise you, I will save and protect you. No matter what, I will fight with all my might to stop Kenshin's plans."

Looking up into Iya's muddy brown eyes, Lilly saw that Iya truly meant what he said, making her relax a bit and melt into his embrace. "Thank you…" she mumbled.

Pulling back, Iya softly smiled and warmly said "I will find a way to stop Kenshin."

"You're not stopping Kenshin, Iya. That's my job." a voice commanded from behind the pair.

Turning around, both saw Ichigo standing before them with torn up clothing and numerous wounds with dripping blood. He had a confident, cocky smile and pointed a thumb at himself, Declaring "I will kill Kenshin and avenge Rukia, and don't forget it Iya!"

"Not if you don't learn to enter Bonkai." Iya smartly remarked while standing up with Lilly.

Growling, Ichigo replied with fire in his voice "I will learn it, I swear it! Once I do, Kenshin will die on Zangetsu."

"Zangetsu?" Lilly questioned.

"Yeah, Zangetsu! Do you have a problem with that!?" Ichigo growled out.

Chuckling, Iya replied "She has no idea who Zangetsu is Ichigo."

Frowning, Ichigo lightly chuckled and replied "I suppose your right."

Turning to Lilly, Iya warmly said "We don't even know your name, now do we my dear? What is it?"

Softly smiling, Lilly replied "My name is Lilly Takashi."

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and the one I called Zangetsu earlier is my sword." Ichigo calmly said while pointing at the hilt of his sword on his back.

"Nice to meet you Ichigo." Lilly softly remarked while bowing. Turning to Iya, she asked "And you are?"

Softly smiling, Iya lightly bowed. "My name is Iya Taisho. It is a pleasure to meet you Lilly."

Bowing in return, Lilly smiled back. "It is nice to meet you as well Iya, and thank you for everything so far."

"Think nothing of it." Iya softly remarked. "Now then, we should get going. We're running behind on meeting the next person who can help us Ichigo."

"Yeah, and we need to find those damn mages." Ichigo grumbled. "See ya around Lilly."

"Wait, don't leave me behind!" Lilly cried out before Ichigo could turn to walk away. "Please, take me with you two."

Grunting, Ichigo growled out "Why should we? You'll only get in the way."

"Ichigo…" Iya growled. Seeing Ichigo shrink back a small bit, he turned to Lilly and smiled. "You may come with us, but you can't stay with us on this journey. I'm going to make arrangements to take you somewhere safe, alright?"

Frowning, Lilly sighed and dejectedly said "Alright…"

"And along the way, we're going to teach you to fight as well, just in case you need to." Iya added.

Perking up slightly, Lilly nodded. "Very well, I agree to it."

"Good. Before we go though, we should adjust your kimono so you can run easier." Iya commented.

Walking up to her, he gently said "Hold still. I'm going to put a slit in your kimono so you can run easier."

Nodding, she watched patiently as Iya made a cut with his sharpened claws from her upper thigh to the bottom of her kimono on both sides. Once done, her legs were unhampered like before, allowing her more motion.

"Better?" Iya asked and received a nod in reply from Lilly. "Good. Then let us be off. Try to keep up if you can."

Nodding in reply, Lilly moved behind Iya. Both Iya and Ichigo, followed by Lilly, began running along the stream. Iya held his arms in and didn't move them, while Ichigo held his out. Lilly in the meantime copied Iya at first, but soon found it too difficult to keep her arms tucked in, so she moved them out to the side like Ichigo.

For nearly four hours, the three ran nonstop. Glancing back, Iya noted Lilly was tiring and softly smiled.

"_To have just become a half demon and to have this kind of stamina, that is something truly special. I can tell she is strong. I'll have to make sure to really test her when training her to fight. Sure, I'll only get in a few sessions, but it'll be worth it._" he silently mused.

Glancing back ahead, Iya saw a castle coming into view and softly smirked. "There it is guys." he called out, instantly breaking the silence.

Looking ahead, Ichigo frowned and asked "Why would a woman who lives alone need something that extravagant?"

"Sesshomaru's mother is the former Lady of the Western Lands Ichigo." Iya admonished. "She has to live in 'style.'"

"Heh, some style…" Ichigo muttered.

Looking back once more, Iya saw Lilly was slowing down a bit. Slowing down himself, he moved till he was beside of her, asking "Are you alright Lilly?"

Panting lightly, she nodded bravely and faked a smile. "Sure, I'm fine. I could keep going forever at this rate."

"You don't have to pretend you're not tired." Iya whispered to her. "We won't think you're weak."

"Speak for yourself." Ichigo grumbled.

Throwing a glare at Ichigo, Iya returned his attention to Lilly, saying "Once we conclude our business with Lady Shankoutetsu, we'll travel for an hour or two, then stop for dinner and then we'll do some training."

Brightening a bit, Lilly smiled and nodded. She seemed to pick up a small amount of speed, allowing her to match Ichigo's once more.

Smiling a bit, Iya sped up and led the group towards the front gates of the massive castle that was quickly approaching.


	4. Chapter 4: Respect

**Hey there everybody. I see this story got quite a few hits, and I've got another person interested, hehe. Glad to have you aboard.**

**Ok, time for reviews.**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: In a way, Iya is kind of like Inuyasha I suppose, except for his manners and minus the foul language really, lol. He's like a mature Inuyasha I guess. Yes, Kenshin is a bit of a prick, but nothing can be done about that. Heh, well, you get to see how I did Lady Shankoutetsu today, so yay! I had fun writing her up too. Thanks for the review!**

**Alrighty then, I'm all done with that, so without further ado, I'll get my final things done and post the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: Iya's name.**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: Sesshomaru's mother's name**

**Yukina-Raven: Ketsaiga's name.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Chapter 4**

Stopping near the entrance to the flowering gardens of the castle, Iya turned to Ichigo and Lilly, saying in a serious tone "Wait for me to return. No matter what you see or hear, don't aide me."

Shrugging, Ichigo leaned up against a nearby wall and relaxed against it. "Whatever."

Looking at Iya with a touch of worry, Lilly began to say something, but Iya softly smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Sighing, Lilly nodded in agreement and moved to lean against another wall nearby. Satisfied that both would stay, Iya made his way on into the gardens towards the main part of the castle.

Arriving at the middle of the gardens, Iya found an elegant woman seemingly waiting on him. She had pale skin, long white hair held up in two ponytails with elegant hairpins and bangs hanging to the sides of her face, pointed ears, smooth somewhat jagged purple demon markings on her cheeks, golden eyes that were hard and cold, a white crescent moon on her forehead, and painted red lips. She wore a white kimono made of fine silk with red blotches on it with a gold and white inner kimono peeking out. Wrapped around her shoulders was a fur boa known as a mokomoko-sama. Around her neck also was a large pearl like necklace with a single golden jewel with a black circular gleaming light in the middle. Her hands were at her sides, each with sharp claws.

Walking in front of the woman, Iya bowed lowly to the woman. "Lady Shankoutetsu." he humbly said.

"Why do you disgrace me with your presence, **half breed!?**" Shankoutetsu hissed.

Feeling his temper flare up, Iya pushed it aside and calmly looked up into her cold golden eyes and said "My Lady, I come to ask of a favor from you."

"YOU DARE ASK A FAVOR OF ME, YOU MISERABLE **HALF BREED**!?" she bellowed in response with great anger.

Keeping his temper in check, Iya humbly replied "Yes, I do my Lady."

"GET OUT OF MY CASTLE, NOW!"

Staying calm, Iya calmly said "I wish to ask you something first, then I shall leave."

"I SAID LEAVE!" Shankoutetsu responded with crimson red forming in her eyes. She let out a low growl, seemingly preparing to act on her words.

Standing his ground, Iya curtly shook his head, saying "I can't till I ask you something."

Snarling, Shankoutetsu glared hard at Iya and leapt into the air. A large white cloud instantly engulfed her, hiding her position. Without warning, a large white dog creature with red corneas and blue-green irises, sharp fangs poking out of it's opened mouth, sharp clawed feet, long ears, a crescent moon on it's forehead, and heavy white fur slammed back to the ground on all fours. It snarled loudly at Iya, seemingly saying for him to leave.

Seeing the dog creature, Lilly was to her feet at an instant and began to run towards Iya, but was stopped by Ichigo, who wrapped his arms around her to hold her. Struggling to get out of his grasp, she shouted "LET ME GO ICHIGO! WE HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

"He told us to wait." Ichigo calmly responded. "Iya can handle her."

"What are you talking about!? Iya can't handle a huge dog demon like that!" she shouted while struggling.

Smirking, Ichigo shook his head, saying "Wait and see. He'll be fine."

Seeing how confident Ichigo was, Lilly settled and relaxed, prompting Ichigo to loosen his hold on her. Staring at Iya, she prayed he would be alright.

Large drops of saliva dripped to the ground from the huge dog, who snarled once more at Iya, who only stood there calmly. Sighing, he stared up at the dog and pleadingly said "Lady Shankoutetsu, you are not my enemy, but I must have your help. Please, be reasonable."

His only answer was a huge paw sent flying in his direction. With little effort, Iya dodged to the side with ease. Leaping backwards to the top of a nearby wall, Iya loudly sighed and hardened his stare at the dog.

"If you won't listen to reason, then maybe you'll listen to my fangs." he growled out.

His body instantly began to glow with a red aura, making his kimono and hair begin floating in the air. The large dog creature stopped in it's tracks and looked at Iya with great curiosity.

Iya's eyes suddenly began to turn crimson red while his irises lost their familiar kind muddy brown color and was replaced by a blue-green color. Leaping into the air, much like Shankoutetsu, a large white cloud surrounded his body, obscuring him from sight of everyone.

"What is he doing?" Lilly questioned aloud.

"Just watch." Ichigo smugly responded.

Descending from the cloud a moment later was a huge black dog with sharp fangs in his mouth, sharp clawed paws, and some dense fur, much like the white dog, except this dog was a bit bigger than the white one. Landing on the ground, the dog snarled loudly at the white one. Letting out a deep breath, frosty ice crystals formed in the air and fell to the ground, making the air much cooler.

In shock, the white dog glowed for a moment before vanishing and being replaced by Shankoutetsu, who stared in complete shock. "You… you can transform?" she softly asked.

Lightly nodding his head, the large black dog calmed. Seeing this, Shankoutetsu gasped aloud, murmuring "And you have control of your mind."

Seeing something floating to the ground nearby, Shankoutetsu began chuckling and pointed to a black kimono that landed. "I see you've not mastered one part of the transformation though. You can't keep your clothes glued to yourself."

The large dog huffed loudly and glared at Shankoutetsu, only making her chuckle once more. Picking up the clothes in her arms, she carried them over behind a small terrace in the garden and then walked back to the dog.

Smiling, she sweetly said "You may go over there and change. I will make sure no one disturbs you."

Seemingly hesitant, the large dog finally nodded and padded over to the terrace. Glancing around and sniffing the air, the dog seemed to finally gather it's resolve and began to glow and instantly vanished. Behind the terrace, Iya's voice could be heard cursing to himself while quickly dressing.

Finishing up, he walked out from behind the terrace to confront Shankoutetsu, who only smiled kindly at him. Warmly, she said "You've become much stronger since the last time I saw you Iya. You are truly one of Lord Inutaisho's sons."

Shocked, Iya bowed to her and humbly said "Thank you."

"I only recognized Sesshomaru from the three of you mostly due that he inherited most of your father's power. True, you and Sesshomaru were for the most part on equal footing in the past, but he always had one advantage over you. Now I can see you have caught up with him, and thus I recognize that." Shankoutetsu explained.

Smiling softly once more, she kindly added "Now then, you said you had a favor to ask of me? What is it?"

"Lady Shankoutetsu, I've come to ask you if you could tell me where Sesshomaru is. I'm trying to locate him to warn him of some impending danger." Iya calmly responded.

Frowning, Shankoutetsu asked "What sort of impending danger do you speak of?"

"The Thirteen, in other words the mages, in which Lord Inutaisho, my father, had me pursue after have returned to this region, looking for new slaves." Iya stated.

"Why should that matter to Sesshomaru though?" Shankoutetsu asked softly.

Softly sighing, Iya replied "They wish to take slaves that are somehow related to the ones that took the half demon Naraku down. I believe Sesshomaru has a young human girl with him, in which one of the mages will go after."

Immediately, Shankoutetsu's face turned to worry as she pondered Iya's words. After a moment, she finally said "He has been here recently to visit. In fact, it was just yesterday to be exact. The girl you speak of, you mean Rin, was still with him. I believe he was going to head to the Western Stronghold from here. He is no more than a half a day's journey ahead of you, I figure. He always moves slowly with her tagging along."

Turning seriously, Shankoutetsu calmly said "Please, do go find him and ensure that nothing happens to him or the girl."

"I give you my word I will." Iya vowed.

Nodding, Shankoutetsu softly smiled. "You've grown up rather well Iya. I am proud to see another of your father's sons turned out well."

Lightly blushing, Iya bowed and humbly replied "Thank you Lady Shankoutetsu."

Clearing his throat, he lowly whispered "Lady Shankoutetsu, if it is not too much bother, can you tell me how to keep my clothes glued to me when I transform?"

Chuckling, Shankoutetsu shook her head and replied "Unfortunately, it would take too long to explain. Besides, you'll figure it out, I'm sure."

Turning lightly pink, Iya grumbled "I suppose…"

"By the way, who are the two with you Iya? I don't recognize either of them."

Regaining his composure, Iya calmly replied "The two I travel with are Ichigo Kurosake, and the other is a human turned half neko demon by one of the mages, Kenshin. Her name is Lilly Takashi."

"I must say, the neko is a lovely one. Have you considered mating with her?" Shankoutetsu teased.

Iya's cheeks instantly turned a deep shade of red from the embarrassment. In a mumble, he said "No, I'm trying to help her get free of the mage's spell…"

"What a shame." Shankoutetsu admonished with a smirk. "I think you two would be a nice pair."

Cheeks still deep red from blushing, Iya cleared his throat and turned away. "Lady Shankoutetsu, we must be off if we're to catch Lord Sesshomaru."

Turning serious, Shankoutetsu sighed and nodded. "Very well Iya."

Letting out a loud and audible sigh, she added "I apologize for my earlier demeanor. I was wrong to treat you that way."

Turning back to face her, Iya was shocked to see Shankoutetsu bowing humbling to him. "Lady Shankoutetsu…"

"This is my way of apologizing Iya. I hope you accept it." she calmly added.

Bowing back, Iya replied "Apology accepted Lady Shankoutetsu."

Both looked up into one another's faces and smiled. "Please, do not hesitate to visit again Iya. I will be more hospitable from now on." Shankoutetsu kindly said.

"Thank you Lady Shankoutetsu. I shall when this is all over, hopefully." Iya replied.

Turning away, Iya walked out of the gardens to where the others stood. Finding them, Lilly stared at Iya, asking "How did you do that!?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya remarked "I'll explain later. For now, we know where to head."

Glancing at Ichigo, he added "Sesshomaru is headed for the Western Stronghold. From here, it will take him three days to make it back at a slow pace. I say we'll catch up with him tomorrow."

"Right." Ichigo agreed while moving away from the wall he had been leaning against.

Leading the group away from the castle, Iya began to move quickly into a run, getting the pair behind him to keep up.

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After two hours of running, the group stopped by a stream. Lilly instantly fell to her hands and knees panting heavily as sweat poured off her body.

"Lilly, if you like, rest up before dinner. After we eat, I'll teach you some defensive maneuvers." Iya calmly said with his back to her.

Looking up, Lilly nodded and began calming her breathing. Turning to Ichigo, Iya said "I'll go hunt for some dinner. You get a fire started."

"Sure." Ichigo grumbled.

Thirty minutes later, Iya returned from the woods with three skinned rabbits and put them on sticks above the fire. Slowly, the meat began cooking. Meanwhile, Lilly rested against a tree after getting a refreshing drink of water from the stream.

Not long afterwards, the rabbits finished cooking and the three sat down and ate. Lilly tried to mind her manners, but noticed only Iya seemed to be trying to follow the same conditions while Ichigo hungrily ripped through his rabbit.

"Sometimes Ichigo, I swear, I don't see how you don't choke to death from stuffing your face." Iya grumbled while trying to calmly eat.

Growling at Iya for his comment, Ichigo replied with a mouth full of food "Shut up! I eat when the food is here."

"You could at least show some manners. After all, there is a lady in our presence." Iya muttered.

Ichigo only ignored him and finished up his rabbit. Once he had, he stood and belched loudly, sending an echo throughout the area.

Glaring at Ichigo, Iya clacked his claws together. With malice in his voice, he said "I'd start moving before I beat you to a bloody pulp for that…"

Seemingly afraid of Iya, Ichigo hightailed it into the woods yelling out "I'll be back later after I finish training!"

Sighing heavily, Iya looked to Lilly, who only smiled at him. "Sorry about his manners. He was raised with them, but apparently forgot he had them."

"It's alright. My father, even though he was a headman, still ate like Ichigo when he had stuff to do." Lilly kindly replied.

"Once we finish, we'll go train." Iya remarked with a kind smile.

Nodding, Lilly finished eating as fast as she could in an ordered fashion. Iya finished before her, and the two soon cleaned up the remains and tossed them in the fire. Moving into the woods, Iya lead the way till they came to a small area surrounded by trees, but there was some open space as well.

"This will do." he softly said. Turning to Lilly, he asked "Today, was it hard for you to keep up with us?"

Brows knitting, Lilly slowly replied "A little. At first, it was hard, but later, I finally figured out how to keep up. Now it's not so bad."

"Good. Then that means I can work with you on agility for the moment. Let's begin. Follow me." Iya commanded.

Leaping up into a tree close by, Iya quickly ascended to the top and stood waiting on Lilly. After a minute, Lilly leapt up into the tree, but nearly lost her balance. Growling, she regained her balance and jumped once more, but again nearly lost her balance.

Noting her difficulty, Iya jumped down to where Lilly was and frowned. Looking apologetic, she mumbled "I'm sorry. For some reason, I keep losing my balance when I land."

Thinking for a moment, Iya softly smiled and said "I can explain why. You're a neko who has a tail. Your tail helps balance you out. Right now, your tail is up inside of your kimono. We need to make you a tail hole."

Moving to her backside, Iya sliced a small hole into her kimono where her tail was. Lilly lightly eeped in shock as she felt Iya pull her tail through the hole. Looking behind her, she saw her tail now free and hanging out. Testing it, she wiggled it a bit and smiled great big.

"Now try and jump up the tree." Iya softly commanded.

Nodding, Lilly leapt up to the next branch and easily kept her balance with her tail sticking out, seemingly correcting her balance. Smiling great big back at Iya, she called out "That really helped!"

"Good." Iya lightly chuckled. "Well, let's continue."

Taking charge once more, Iya leapt further up into the top of the tree. Lilly soon caught up with him. Leaping into another tree, Iya landed expertly on a branch and waited. A moment later, Lilly caught up.

"Very good Lilly. Let's try a small exercise that I'm sure you learned when you were younger. We're going to play tag."

Frowning, Lilly put her hands on her hips, hotly saying "Don't baby me!"

Smirking, Iya smartly remarked "I'm not. I want you to catch me."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yes. I want you to keep running till you catch me." Iya admonished.

Sighing, Lilly simply said "Alright. Any rules?"

"No, just catch me is all." Iya simply said. "I get a second head start is all."

Once more sighing, Lilly flashed a fanged smile and smugly replied "Very well, I'll catch you, but don't expect this to last long."

"We'll see. I'm going." Iya stated.

Leaping out of the tree, Iya hit the ground running at a medium speed pace. A second later, Lilly flew out of the tree and came running after him. Using his swift speed, Iya navigated through the trees, easily avoiding them and moving among them.

Glancing back, Iya saw Lilly quickly trying to catch up, but had a little bit of difficulty navigating the trees. Smirking, he jumped into a nearby tree and climbed to the top and began running through the trees. Lilly followed, but wasn't gaining any ground. No matter how hard she seemed to push, Iya kept a step ahead of her.

Growing frustrated with Iya keeping ahead, Lilly jumped to the ground and came skidding to a stop. Glaring up at the trees, she yelled "No fair!"

Stopping his run, Iya turned and jumped from the trees down to the ground and lightly chuckled. "How so Lilly? We're both half demons, and neko's are notorious for being every bit, if not a little bit, faster than dog demons. So, what's the problem?"

Planting her hands on her hips, Lilly snapped "You know that I'm not an experienced half demon!"

With a half pout, she turned away and added "After all, I can't help it that I'm not trained."

Chuckling at her, Iya walked up to her and was about to comfort her when suddenly she whipped around and slapped both her hands to his chest. Smirking victoriously, she yelled "GOT YA!"

Shocked, Iya couldn't help but laugh. "Well done. I see you learned to use the element of surprise. Still, there was a point to that exercise. It was to teach you how to maneuver and to increase your agility. If you were able to catch me…"

"I did." Lilly interjected.

"… If you had caught me FAIRLY, then you would have learned how to jump and run through the terrain much more effectively. Still, you did well for your first attempt." Iya congratulated.

Lightly blushing from the comment, Lilly mumbled "Thanks."

"Next, we'll work on your heightened senses. Tell me, what do you hear right now?"

Frowning, Lilly replied "That's kind of dumb. I just hear some of the creatures that live out in the woods that are nocturnal."

"Maybe so, but I want you to tell me what each are." Iya remarked. Closing his eyes, he twitched his ears for a moment before reopening them. "Right now, I hear at least ten different things. Name them for me."

Sighing, Lilly began listening and said "I hear crickets, an owl, and some bats."

"Good start, but calm yourself and close your eyes. You'll be able to hear much more if you just let your senses expand themselves."

Once more sighing, Lilly nodded and closed her eyes. Reaching out with her hearing, she began listening to the woods. She heard the crickets chirping, along with the owl hooting, and some bats screeching. She also soon heard bullfrogs in a nearby pond, a boar snorting, some rabbits hoping along in the bushes, the stream trickling along, a splash in the pond where a fish leapt out, a small gentle breeze blowing leaves, and the sound of clanging metal off in the distance.

Reopening her eyes, Lilly told Iya what all she had heard, making him smile. "Very good, Lilly, you got them all. I'm proud of you."

Lightly blushing once more with happiness, Lilly replied calmly "Thank you Iya. I couldn't hear it before till I tried listening."

"It takes practice on shutting the rest of the world out and focusing on certain sounds." Iya commented. "Now, I have a new task for you since you seem to be flying through all of them so far. Nearby is a hot spring, but I want you to use your nose to locate it. Think you can handle that one?"

"My nose?" Lilly asked. Frowning, she asked "What does it smell like?"

"You'll know it. Think back to when you've been in a hot spring in the past. Remember how the steam and sulfur smelled as a human? Just follow that."

Nodding lightly, Lilly began sniffing the air in an attempt to find the hot spring. She caught scent of water in different directions, but frowned. "I can smell three different sources of water…" she mumbled.

"That's good. Can you describe what each smells like to me?" Iya asked.

"The first and strongest smells like it is stagnant and is standing still. I also smell some creatures living in it. I'm guess that's the pond that I heard the fish jumping in and where the frogs are." she slowly said.

Nodding, Iya replied "That's good, because there is a pond nearby, that much I know for sure. What can you tell me about the other two sources?"

Concentrating, Lilly closed her eyes once more and began inhaling the scents of the forest. After a few moments, she said "Another of the sources smells fresh, but I hear it moving, making me guess that's the stream. The other, I can smell something that to me resembles steam and sulfur. I think that one is the hot spring."

Opening her eyes, Lilly saw Iya smiling. "Very good, now can you lead me to it?" he asked.

With a small nod, Lilly began walking in the direction of the scent. Noting her vision was very clear, she calmly asked "Iya, why can I see so clearly in the dark?"

"Nekos have very good night vision." Iya casually commented. "Most demons and half demons have decent night vision, but nekos normally have the better of most demons. I can see rather clearly myself, but that's through training my eyes, plus the fact that I'm a half dog demon."

"I see that makes sense I suppose." Lilly replied with a small smile.

Continuing on, the pair soon found the hot spring surrounded by large trees. Steam slowly rose up from the water that looked rather calm and clear.

"Lilly, if you wish, you can bathe."

"Thanks." Lilly remarked and walked over to the waters, dipping her fingers into it to test it's temperature. Finding it suitable, she turned back to Iya, but noted he was walking away.

"I'll stand guard over you just to make sure no demons attack." Iya commented as he disappeared behind a large tree that was near the hot spring. "You don't mind, do you?"

Lightly blushing at the thought of Iya being able to watch her while bathing, Lilly shyly replied "That's fine, just don't peek."

"No worries. I wouldn't do that to you."

Turning her back to him and facing the hot spring, she mumbled "You'd better not."

Calming down, Lilly untied her obi and slowly shed off her kimono, which fell to her feet in a pool of purple. Glancing back to make sure Iya wasn't peeping, she saw no sign of Iya, but heard his regulated breathing from behind the tree. Sighing lightly, she slid her nearly sheer white slip off and quickly slipped into the water.

Lightly moaning from the nice feeling of the water, she went under the water and came back up to find water stuck in her cat ears. Tweaking them, she tried draining the water. After a few tries, she finally got it out and sighed lightly. Examining her body more closely, she noted the changes she had undergone and leaned back against the rocks within the water to ponder on them.

Lilly become rather lost in thought and relaxed, but didn't hear a thing at all, allowing an ogre demon to sneak up behind her. She was relaxing still when a deep voice spoke, startling her.

"What luck, I've found a half breed for dinner." the ogre grunted out. "You will make a delicious meal!"

Shrinking deeper into the water, Lilly let out a low growl and snarled out "Get away from me!"

"You're mine now half breed!" the ogre bellowed as he reached for her.

Just before the ogre could grab Lilly, a flash of blue energy in the shape of a whip struck the ogre's hand, making him pull back quickly. Looking for the source, the ogre saw Iya walking towards him with a calm demeanor.

"Ah, another half breed for my dinner. You look even more tasty." the ogre grunted while licking his lips.

Calmly walking towards the ogre, Iya simply said "Leave now and I won't kill you."

Darkly chuckling, the ogre sneered at Iya. "You surely jest. No half breed will kill me."

"Last chance. Go now, or die." Iya stoically remarked.

Growling loudly, the ogre charged at Iya, yelling "NO HALF BREED ORDERS ME AROUND!"

The ogre swung his huge clawed hand at Iya, who simply dodged by leaping into the air. Putting his index and middle finger together, Iya pointed at the ogre and flicked his wrist, sending out a blue energy whip once more. The whip tore through the ogre's skull easily, disintegrating him upon contact.

Falling to the ground, Iya glanced back to see a shocked Lilly. "How… how did you do that?" she asked with dismay.

Lightly smiling, Iya turned away, cheeks lightly aglow. "Uh… you may want to sink deeper into the water…" he shyly murmured.

Realizing she had nearly stood up out of the water, Lilly quickly sunk back deeper, hiding herself the best she could while her face had flushed to a deep red shade.

"I'll leave you to finish." Iya muttered while keeping his back to her. "Hopefully, no more demons will attack."

"Thank you…" she whispered as Iya vanished once more.

Dunking herself deep into the water once more, Lilly ran her hands over her body, using them to scrub herself. Finally satisfied, she rose out of the water and acting on instinct, shook herself violently like a dog would to wring itself dry. She quickly dressed and brushed her hair the best she could with her clawed hands.

Finally done, she softly said "Finished."

Coming out from behind the tree, Iya smiled and said "Good. Sorry about that demon a moment ago. He was downwind of me and I was in deep thought, so I didn't notice it."

With understanding in her voice, she replied "It's alright. I didn't hear him either. I was too busy taking in what all had happened today."

"I'm sure it's a bit overwhelming." Iya admonished.

Nodding, Lilly softly said "Yeah, it is. To go from human to half demon is so strange."

Putting a kind hand on her shoulder, Iya smiled. "I'll help you the best I can with the change. Things will come to you in time."

"Thank you for being so helpful and understanding Iya. I don't know what I'd do without you." Lilly admitted.

Lightly chuckling, Iya replied "I'm sure you'd figure something out. In the meantime, let's get back to camp. I'm sure Ichigo has gone and gotten the hell beat out of himself by Zangetsu by now."

Stifling a yawn, Lilly nodded in agreement. Noticing Iya crouching down, she asked "Are you offering a ride?"

"Yes. You've had a long day. I'll carry you back." Iya kindly said.

Graciously smiling, Lilly said "Thank you."

Getting onto his back, Lilly felt safe and warm. Yawning once more, she began to feel more and more sleepy as Iya ran along through the woods. By the time the pair had reached their camp, Lilly had fallen completely asleep, making Iya softly smile at her over his shoulder. Gently laying her down onto the ground, he looked over to see Ichigo already at camp, but passed out with several wounds.

Sighing heavily, Iya walked over and tended to Ichigo's wounds. Once the herbs were applied, he bandaged them up and noted he was satisfied with them.

Seeing a nearby tree, Iya leapt into it and sat down on a branch. With a yawn, he whispered "Tomorrow my brother, we shall meet once more."


	5. Chapter 5: Older Brother

**Hey again everyone. Wow, I got a few adds to some people's favorites list, and another add for alerts. That's all cool, so thanks everyone. I am sort of surprised I didn't hear from Mitsukai-no-Suno over how I did Lady ****Shankoutetsu****, but that's cool. I understand when people are busy and don't have time to review. It just happens, lol.**

**Btw, if things work out, and I get a little further ahead, I may try to start releasing two chapters a week of this story in the near future. It might not be till sometime next month, like the middle of it. It just depends on how much further along I get on this story. For now though, I'll keep posting at least once a week though, so no worries there.**

**Again, thanks to those who added me to their favs and their alerts. I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: Iya's name.**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: Sesshomaru's mother's name**

**Yukina-Raven: Ketsaiga's name.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Chapter 5**

The morning had been quick and the three were on their way immediately after catching some fish for breakfast. Lilly kept pace with Iya and Ichigo, making Iya's heart swell with some pride that she had learned something from the night before.

By mid-afternoon, Iya caught Sesshomaru's scent and quickly moved the others with him ahead of Sesshomaru's position. Finally stopping, Iya had the others back off a little bit while they waited for him.

No more than thirty minutes later, a man with long white hair that reached his calves, pointed ears, a blue crescent moon on his forehead, cold golden eyes, and twin purple stripes on his cheeks came into view. He wore a white kimono with a red hexagon pattern on his sleeves and around his collar, a yellow obi with a purple pattern on the ends, a black piece of armor, a white fur boa on his shoulder known as mokomoko-sama, white balloon like pants, and had a pair of swords in his obi. Each of the swords had a black sheath, with one of them having a blue laced up handle and the other a similar color, but much lighter. His hands sticking out of his sleeves were clawed, which appeared rather sharp.

The man elegantly walked ahead of a green toad like creature that wore a small black monk like hat, a brown kimono, and held a staff with two elderly men like heads in one hand while the other held the reigns to a dragon behind him. The dragon behind him had twin heads and was an olive color. It had no wings, but four legs and a black mane. On it's back was a saddle, and a young girl. She had black hair that reached just above her butt with a tiny bit of her bangs tied up in a pigtail, brown eyes, and a sweet smile. She wore a simple orange and yellow kimono with a green obi sash.

Nearing the three standing in the road, the elegant man held his hand up, saying "Wait here."

Walking forward, the man glared hard at Iya. Iya walked forward in correspondence. Stopping in front of one another, Iya bowed lowly, saying humbly "Lord Sesshomaru."

Staring at the young man, the young girl whispered to the green toad "Master Jaken, who is that with Lord Sesshomaru? He looks very much like him."

Growling lowly, the little toad, Jaken, loudly fired back with "Rin, how dare you compare our great Lord Sesshomaru to a lowly demon like that! Besides, I doubt that demon is of any importance."

"Jaken!" the stoic, but sharp, voice of Sesshomaru cut through the air, making Jaken snap to attention and bow lowly to the ground.

"Forgive my words my Lord." Jaken apologetically responded.

Turning his attention back to Iya, Sesshomaru lightly bowed in return and curtly said "Lord Iya."

Both came out of their bows and stared one another down. Softly smiling, Iya calmly said "It's been quite a while big brother. Would it be alright with you if we did away with the formality for now Sesshomaru?"

"Very well little brother. Why are you here? Have you completed your mission?" Sesshomaru questioned.

Lowering his head lightly, Iya replied "I have not finished my mission yet. However, six of the mages no longer walk among the living. They have been dispatched, but seven still live. I was able to destroy three on my own, and received help with the remaining three from the young man with orange hair behind me. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Most disappointing Iya." Sesshomaru emotionlessly said. "I had thought perhaps you had finally finished your task."

"I will finish my task." Iya responded with a slightly restrained voice. "In the meantime, I have come with news."

"News?" Sesshomaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding, Iya slowly said "Earlier this year, about six or so months ago, the mages entered a nonaggression pact with Naraku, whom had pressed for it."

Softly growling, Sesshomaru grumbled "That half breed's insolence continues beyond the grave…"

"In any case, Naraku in exchange for the pact gave the mages six new slaves that were incarnations of himself, I believe." Iya explained. "Apparently, when he died recently, the six slaves died along with him, leaving the mages in a bit of anger. They have since vowed to take new slaves, ones mostly consisting of the people who destroyed Naraku, or are close to the ones who destroyed him."

"Ridiculous." Sesshomaru replied. "This has nothing to do with me. The mages could never hope to defeat and capture this Sesshomaru."

Softly smiling, Iya nodded, saying "True, they would never think to attack you, but they are not after you directly."

Turning more serious, Iya added "I believe they are after the young vassal that travels with you."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened a small fraction for a second and glanced back at the young girl, Rin, but soon returned his gaze to Iya. Lightly grunting, he stoically stated "The mages would be foolish to attack this Sesshomaru's vassal. I will defend her."

"I realize that Sesshomaru, but the mages are relentless. If they target someone, they will not stop till they've achieved their goal. I would be careful."

"Ridiculous that you would worry about me little brother." Sesshomaru remarked.

Slightly smiling, Iya calmly replied "I do from time to time big brother. I also have a few things to ask."

"Very well, but be quick about it." Sesshomaru quipped.

Lightly nodding, Iya slowly asked "Sesshomaru, do you know where Inuyasha is currently?"

In a sharp reply, Sesshomaru asked "Why should I know where that **half breed** is at this moment?"

"I am attempting to find him so I can warn him as well." Iya quickly replied.

Taking a moment to consider the request, Sesshomaru finally emotionlessly said "He is in the village closest to the well known as the Bone Eaters Well. He and his comrades reside there for now."

"I see. Thank you for that information brother." Iya humbly bowed. Rising up, he added "I have one last request. I wish to ask you to do me a favor."

"A favor? What favor?" Sesshomaru questioned.

Pausing a moment to construct his request, Iya finally said "I ask that you take this young half neko demon with you to the Western Stronghold. Her name is Lilly Takashi, and she if a human who was attacked by the mage Kenshin and transformed into a half demon. I wish to pursue Kenshin, but I wish to place her somewhere safe till Kenshin is dead."

Thinking for a moment, Sesshomaru finally responded with "The answer is no Iya."

Bristling up with anger, Iya growled out "Why not Sesshomaru!?"

"Hold your tongue Iya." Sesshomaru roughly bit out. Calming, he added "Know your place and remember whom you speak to."

Growling lowly, Iya retorted with a restrained voice "You are already headed towards the Western Stronghold. I don't see why you won't take her with you to the Stronghold."

Lightly grunting, Sesshomaru turned a cold eye towards Iya, saying "Foolish little brother, have you not thought about your request? If I take her to the Western Stronghold, that would be inviting the vengeance of the mages upon it. The one mage, Kenshin, will seek to have her returned, hence will attack. If he does not, when she is lost to him, she will attack us."

Iya's eyes instantly widened upon this declaration, making him look down at the ground with a touch of shame in his face. Continuing, Sesshomaru added "I will not endanger the occupants of the Western Stronghold, not even as a favor to you. Besides little brother, I would think you would be capable of protecting her much better than the Stronghold."

Bringing his eyes back up to look Sesshomaru in the face, Iya saw a small spark of warmness in his eyes, and softly smiled. Lightly bowing, he kindly said "Very well, I shall keep her under my protection. Thank you for the information on Inuyasha, and for hearing out my requests."

Pausing a moment, he then added "Do be careful brother. I don't know if the mages will attack you or not, but I know they have sworn vengeance, and that normally means they will attack anyone."

Walking past Iya, Sesshomaru stopped and replied "I do not fear them. I would be more concerned for your own pack's safety than mine. Farewell, little brother."

Moving on, Sesshomaru continued walking till he came up to Lilly and Ichigo. Ichigo stood in the road, somewhat blocking the middle of it.

Icily, Sesshomaru said "You're in the way. Move."

Glaring at Sesshomaru, Ichigo bristled up with anger and growled out "Go around."

"I said move." Sesshomaru once more said with an emotionless voice.

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Ichigo began to draw it, but was suddenly stopped by a blue laser whip wrapping around his stomach and yanking him out of the road and throwing him to the side. Looking to see who the whip belonged to, Ichigo slightly growled lowly when he noted it was Iya's.

"Forgive him Lord Sesshomaru." Iya apologetically said as he quickly moved in front of Ichigo.

In a low whisper that only Lilly could hear, Iya growled out "Lilly, move back and bow."

Quickly moving back, Lilly did as she was told. Lightly grunting with satisfaction, Sesshomaru called out "Jaken, Ah-Un, let us be on our way."

"Coming Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken cried out as he ran along with the reins of the dragon in hand.

While moving by, Rin smiled at the three and waved, saying "Bye bye!"

The small group was soon further away, leaving Iya, Ichigo, and Lilly behind. Loosening his whip, Iya released Ichigo, who quickly jumped up off of the ground and stared eye to eye with Iya.

Angrily, he snarled "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT IYA! I COULD HAVE TOOK HIM!"

Sighing heavily, Iya turned away and softly asked "Ichigo, answer this one question for me before I explain. You do wish to kill Kenshin, correct?"

"OF COURSE I DO!" Ichigo yelled, making Iya and Lilly bother flatten their ears to their head.

Opening his ears once more, Iya turned to Ichigo once more. "Then don't fight battles that aren't necessary, like with Sesshomaru. He could have killed you right there before you even drew Zangetsu."

"What are you jabbering about Iya, I could have…"

"Died." Iya flatly stated. "You didn't see it, but I did. Sesshomaru's energy whip, much like mine, was just starting to come out. If I hadn't of grabbed hold of you with my whip, he would have sliced you apart, piece by piece, and then you'd have lost your opportunity to take on Kenshin."

Somewhat aghast at what Iya said, Ichigo pondered on the words for a moment. While he did, Iya added "Ichigo, you shouldn't fight battles that are not necessary. Kenshin will be more than enough for either of us to handle. So try to keep your temper cool."

"Fine…" Ichigo grumbled. "I guess you think I should thank you for saving me. Well, I'm not. I could have handled myself."

"Yeah, you'd have handled yourself right into a grave." Iya lowly mumbled to himself.

Turning to the others, Iya calmly said "Let's get going. We have a long journey to get to Inuyasha, and we can't waste too much time getting there. It's two days from here to that village, and unfortunately, we can't waste the time running that far."

Frowning, Lilly asked "Then what do we do?"

Softly smiling, Iya replied "We fly there."

"Fly? But how?" Lilly protested.

"Are you sure about that Iya? I know it takes a bit out of you to stay transformed that long…" Ichigo stated.

"I'll be fine. We don't have time to waste talking about it." Iya calmly replied. "Stand back Lilly."

Nodding, Lilly nervously backed up with Ichigo, who folded his arms over his chest, seemingly waiting. "What is he going to do?" she whispered to Ichigo.

"Just watch." he replied quietly.

Closing his eyes, Iya let out a low feral growl as his felt his body suddenly begin to change. His eyes turned red with his irises turning blue-green. A large cloud of smoke instantly engulfed him, obscuring him from Lilly and Ichigo's view. The cloud soon dissipated and from it came the large black dog that the pair had seen at Lady Shankoutetsu's castle. A black kimono and pants laid nearby, which Ichigo promptly walked over and picked up. Folding them up, he tied them in a neat pile.

Looking the dog over, Lilly nervously walked forward and whispered "Iya?"

Nodding, the large black dog lay down onto the ground and lowly whined.

"It's really you…" she whispered in some shock.

Moving to the point she was close enough, she timidly reached out and touched his muzzle. Feeling the softness of his fur, she softly smiled and began stroking it while Iya laid still.

"Your fur is very soft." she absent mindedly commented.

"You coming?"

Turning to see it was Ichigo saying that who had moved to Iya's side, Lilly cocked her head to the side and asked "Why did he change?"

"To fly us to his brother." Ichigo answered as if Lilly was completely dumb.

Lightly growling, Iya glared back towards Ichigo, who quickly added calmly "Iya can fly in this form, so we can ride him and reach his brother quickly."

"Oh, I see. I've never flown before. Is it scary?" Lilly timidly asked.

Sighing heavily, Ichigo walked over to her and put a calming hand on her shoulder, saying "It's alright. We really need to go though. If we leave now, we might make it by day break or afternoon tomorrow. So, let's go."

Nodding, Lilly walked over to Iya's side and looked inquisitively at Ichigo. "So, what do I do?"

"Just get on his back, about the middle or upper part of it. Here, I'll help you." Ichigo calmly responded.

Grabbing her up in his arms, he leapt into the air, making Lilly lightly squeal out in surprise. The pair soon landed on Iya's mid-back. The two shuffled till they were finally comfortable, with Lilly in front of Ichigo.

Patting Iya, Ichigo called out "Ready now Iya. Let's get going."

Grunting, Iya stood up and carefully turned around. Looking towards the direction he needed to head, he leapt into the air, causing clouds to form around his feet. He began running through the air, seemingly effortlessly flying.

Lilly lightly squeaked out in shock at the first leap into the air, but quickly calmed when she felt Ichigo holding her up. Sitting up on her own, she relished in the feeling of the wind in her face. Looking down at the ground, she softly smiled at the sights of it flying by so rapidly.

"So, what do you think so far?" Ichigo asked, breaking her gaze at the ground.

Glancing over her shoulder, she softly smiled. "This is fun. I had no idea Iya could fly like this."

"Well, he can only do it in his true dog form. Of course, using his true form does wear him out, but it has a lot of bonuses from what he told me." Ichigo admitted. "He gets a lot more power, plus his speed increases. Of course, his size increases also, which is an advantage and disadvantage. I know he gets other stuff that's a plus, but eh, I don't worry about it. Myself, I like being me, and Iya prefers his other form anyways, not this full dog form."

"I see." Lilly mumbled. Reaching down and patting Iya, Lilly softly smiled. "Thanks for carrying us Iya."

Iya simply let out a low grunt, as if replying to her. "Oh yeah, one other thing. He can't really say anything in this form." Ichigo smartly said.

"It's alright. I'm sure he's busy anyways trying to fly and has no time for talk." Lilly replied.

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All evening and that night Iya continued to fly. After a while, Lilly's eyes grew heavy, and she finally laid down and snuggled into Iya's fur, making him slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time rather warm inside. Ichigo eventually overcame with sleep himself and rested.

Iya meanwhile continued to fly towards the village. He was starting feel a bit tired by the time dawn broke, but ignored it.

"_We have to get to Inuyasha and his comrades and warn them, no matter what. I can rest later._"

Continuing to fly, Iya felt Ichigo slowly stir. Glancing around, Ichigo yawned and softly asked "We there yet?"

Hearing a light growl, Ichigo only lightly chuckled, saying "I was just kidding Iya."

Slowly stirring, Lilly's eyes fluttered open as she sat back up and yawned loudly. Glancing around, she noted they were still flying. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Ichigo was awake.

"Good morning Ichigo." she mumbled while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Patting Iya, she added "Good morning to you too Iya."

Iya only let out a small growl in response. Looking around, Lilly asked "Has Iya been flying still since we fell asleep?"

"Yes, he has. I'd say we're getting close at this point." Ichigo informed her. "What do you think Iya? We close?"

After a few moments of silence, Iya let out a low growl and nodded his head. Slowly, he began to descend towards the ground.

"Hold on tight Lilly, we're going down!" Ichigo shouted out while clinging tightly to Iya's fur.

Lilly did the same while Iya continued to descend slowly. Soon enough, he found an open field and landed in it. Coming to a stop, he began panting loudly, but laid down to let Ichigo and Lilly off.

The pair soon disembarked from his back and landed softly on the grass. Pulling the clothes bundle out, Ichigo offered it to Iya, who took it in his mouth. Iya instantly stood up and padded away towards the nearby stream.

Frowning, Lilly asked Ichigo "Where is Iya going?"

"He's tired and probably needs a drink." Ichigo calmly said while looking away.

Brows knitting, Lilly then asked "Why didn't he get one right here? It's the same water. Maybe I should go with him."

"I wouldn't Lilly." Ichigo warned.

Placing her hands on her hips, Lilly roughly asked "Why not!? I'm worried about him. He flew us all night without resting and if he couldn't realize the stream was right in front of him, he could be in trouble."

Lightly chuckling, Ichigo only dismissively said "Just drop it. He's fine."

"I'm going to check on him!" Lilly snapped back and ran off in the direction Iya had headed.

Deeply sighing, Ichigo mumbled "I tried to warn her…"

When leaving the others, Iya had traveled up stream a little ways and finally stopped. Placing his clothes off to the side, he lapped up some water before finally transforming back to his half demon form. He instantly submerged his naked body into the stream, allowing it to cool him. Relaxing in the water, Iya calmed his mind and dunked himself once more.

"That's the first time I've stayed transformed that long." he mumbled aloud. "I hope I don't have to do it too much. It's not hard, but tiring."

Dunking himself once more, Iya scrubbed his face and finally stood back up, but heard a loud gasp. Quickly looking over his shoulder, he saw a red faced Lilly staring at him with wide eyes. His own muddy brown eyes widened at the sight, and he quickly dunked himself deep into the water.

"I'm so sorry!" Lilly apologetically called out while turning her back to him. "I was worried…"

Deeply sighing while trying to regain his emotions, Iya mumbled "I'm fine. I'll be out in a moment."

Quickly trudging through the water, Iya leapt out and grabbed his clothes and hid behind a tree. After a moment, he finally came out from behind it while tying the ribbon back in his long black hair.

Hearing him coming back, Lilly shyly looked at the ground with pink tinting her cheeks still. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled. "I didn't mean to do that. I thought you were hurt or in pain or something. Ichigo told me you might be going after a drink of water, but I got scared since the stream was in front of us. It made no sense to go further upstream."

Lightly sighing, Iya put up a hand, saying "It's alright. I'm fine. I just wanted to cool off a bit."

"Oh, ok. I'm sorry I interrupted you. I was just worried." Lilly apologetically repeated.

Softly smiling, Iya replied "You don't have to apologize again Lilly. I know you didn't come after me with any malice in mind."

Smiling once more, Iya warmly added "Thank you for being concerned though."

Turning to look back down stream, Iya said "Let's head back. I got us close, but we're still a few hours away."

"Ok." Lilly softly replied while following Iya back to Ichigo.

Arriving back, the pair found Ichigo staring off into the distance. Seeing both Iya and Lilly returning, he lightly chuckled and teasingly asked "Enjoy the company?"

Growling loudly, Iya leapt forward and grabbed Ichigo by the collar, lowly saying "Damn bobcat, why the hell did you let her go after me!?"

Laughing loudly, Ichigo smirked and replied "Why not? I figure time she got there, you were your usual old self, so why not let her have a peek?"

"I should take that overgrown sword of yours and stick it up your…" Iya began before being interrupted by Lilly.

"Iya, you said time was of the essence, right?" she shyly asked.

Sighing heavily, Iya released Ichigo, who smirked with triumph. "That I did. We're still a few hours away, so let's get to it then."


	6. Chapter 6: Little Brother, Pt 1

**Hey there everyone! Wow, I got a few more reviews and adds on things. Thanks all. For a while, I'm going to begin posting two chapters. How long this will last, I'm unsure. It depends on how much I get written on this story. For this month at least though, I will post two chapters weekly.**

**For now, I suppose I'll go ahead and answer the reviews to start thing off.**

**jaimed1968: Lol, yes, Sesshomaru was as always arrogant and self centered I suppose, hehe. True, Iya pays respect to Sesshomaru, which is probably due that he was raised by his father and taught to respect lords, even ones that are your brother, lol. Heh, yeah, Ichigo is very similar to Inuyasha in a lot of ways. He's cocky, brash, and ready to fight anyone at anytime. Eh, he's not got a death wish really, more of just the attitude that he shouldn't have to bow down to the world I suppose. Again, very much like Inuyasha, hehe. I'm glad you enjoying my story thus far. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai-no-Suno: Very weird that the alert didn't go out for chapter for to you. Sometimes is odd like that though. I know I sometimes don't get reviews or alerts also, but that's just one of the perks that the site has. It isn't often anymore, but it happens once and a great while. At any rate, I'm glad you liked my portrayal of your character, Lady Shan. She was different from your portrayal, but at the same similar, lol. She is most definitely Beautiful Steel, without a doubt in my mind, hehe. The reason she mostly hates Iya is rather simple. She feels that Sesshomaru is the only true son of Inutaisho due that he's a full demon and exhibits the same kind of power that his father does. When Inutaisho had Iya, she hated him for his lack of power, even when he received Ketsaiga and additional training. Now though that she has witnessed his new found power to transform into true dog form, she realized she was wrong. Iya is truly Inutaisho's son to her now, hence why she recognizes him at long last. Heh, the reason I had Sesshomaru lacking respect for Inuyasha still was due that I've yet to read all of the manga to it's end. I've read up to where Magatsuhi is destroyed by the brothers, but I didn't catch Sesshomaru's gushing pride. I only took it that he was proud, but still had little respect for his brother. I could have misinterpreted I suppose, lol. Still, if I had to guess, Sesshomaru wouldn't be able to get rid of his pride that he had in his mind that he was always better than Inuyasha. It may have lessened, but he wouldn't admit it to no one, lol. True, he hasn't called Inuyasha a half breed in a long time either. I hope my explanations were acceptable. Glad you like my story thus far. Heh, the peeping scene, I couldn't help myself. It was just too open ended and I had to throw it out there. Inuyasha's appearance will be fun, hehe. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's it for my reviews for now. Thank you to Princess Yaten V2.5 for adding my story to her C1. I found a nice Naruto fic in there to read also, lol. At any rate, thanks to everyone for the reviews and adds to their favs, alerts, or c1. I appreciate it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'll post the next Friday. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

Nearly two hours later, the three finally caught sight of a village in the distance. Slowing their speeds down, Iya lead the group in the direction where an old well sat. Nearing it, he held up his hand up towards the others, stopping them in their tracks. Silently, the three moved into some nearby bushes.

In a low whisper, Ichigo asked "What is it Iya?"

"I hear someone." he softly replied.

Glancing up at the nearby huge tree, Iya caught sight of a figure sitting a few branches up wearing a bright red kimono with some purple prayer beads that had fang like white beads in the string. The figure had long, butt length silver hair, and dog ears. He was barefooted and his red kimono looked as if it had been patched and repaired dozens of times, plus there was a sword resting in his lap.

Taking in the scent, Iya softly smiled and mumbled "So, there you are."

Frowning at what Iya said, Ichigo was about to say something when Iya motioned for him to be quiet.

In the tree, the young man was rolling a round pink crystal sphere in his hand and seemed to nonstop stare at it. Holding it tight in his hand, he mumbled "What do I do…"

Placing the crystal in his left hand, he rolled it around while staring at it. "I've always desired to become a full demon. It's something that I've thought of and dreamed of for so long, and now I can grant my wish."

Lowering his eyes below the shadow of his bangs, he added "But to do that, I must give up everything that I care about. After transforming when Tetsusaiga broke, my desire to become a full demon has dwindled. I mean, what use is the power of a full demon if I can't control myself. I could kill everyone I care about… especially…"

Raising his eyes out of the shadow of his bangs, he definitively said "I can't become a full demon. There is too much that I care about to do it. I'd lose everything if I did, and everyone."

"I'm glad to hear that Master Inuyasha." a small voice said, making Iya swivel his ears towards the young man even more. "Your father would be proud of you for making such a decision."

"Feh, I doubt the old man would care." the young man, Inuyasha, brashly commented.

Smiling at Inuyasha's words, Iya stood up and motioned for the others to stay put. Walking out into the open, Iya moved to below the tree and said "Good for you to want to stay a half demon, Inuyasha."

Instantly picking up on Iya's voice, Inuyasha leapt out of the tree and drew his sword on the way down, which transformed into a halberd upon drawing it, with a fur like guard. Landing on the ground roughly, he snarled out "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

Putting his hands up in defense, Iya calmly said "Easy now, I'm not here to fight."

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THE SACRED JEWEL FROM ME, SO GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I KILL YOU!" Inuyasha shouted.

Glancing into Inuyasha's eyes, Iya softly smiled at the golden color that showed anger, but hid softness behind them. "_Very much like father's eyes still._" Iya mused.

Glaring at Iya, he roughly repeated himself. "Who the hell are you, and why do you look somewhat like Sesshomaru!?"

Coming out of Inuyasha's collar, a small flea stared at Iya for a moment before timidly asking "Master Iya is that actually you?"

Seeing the flee, Iya softly smiled, saying "Myoga, I thought that was your voice earlier."

Leaping off of Inuyasha, Myoga jabbed into Iya's neck and began sucking up some blood. After a moment, he came up for air and his eyes widened.

Jumping onto Iya's shoulder, he happily declared "IT IS YOU MASTER IYA!"

Settling, he asked "Where have you been all this time Master Iya?"

Iya was about to answer when Inuyasha gruffly asked "Myoga, you know this guy?"

"Myoga, you did tell Inuyasha about me, didn't you?" Iya calmly asked.

Nervously, Myoga mumbled "Well… not exactly. I mean, you were gone so long, and I wasn't sure if you were alive or not. For all I knew, you had been killed, abandoned your duty and chose not to return, or something like that. I wasn't sure if I should tell Inuyasha or not, so I chose not to."

Growling impatiently, Inuyasha snarled "Who the hell is he!?"

Sighing heavily, Iya softly smiled at Inuyasha. "Well, I guess it can't be helped that you don't remember me. After all, you were very young when I last saw you."

"What the hell are you talking about!? Who are you!" Inuyasha impatiently asked once more.

Softly chuckling, Iya replied "You were only five years old the last time we met."

Sighing once more, he smiled again. "My name is Iya Taisho. I am the son of the great dog demon lord, Inutaisho Taisho, former Lord of the Western Lands."

Inuyasha's eyes instantly widened a fraction at those words, but Iya continued on. "My older half brother is Sesshomaru Taisho, current Lord of the Western Lands."

A small bit of anger flashed up in Inuyasha's golden eyes upon hearing this, but Iya ignored it, adding "And I have a younger half brother, you, Inuyasha Taisho."

"Younger brother…" Inuyasha mumbled while staring at Iya, seemingly taking in his facial features.

Jumping over onto Inuyasha's shoulder, Myoga calmly said "It is the truth Master Inuyasha. He is truly your older half brother."

Lowering his sword and transforming it back to it's dull, rusty form, Inuyasha slowly slid it back into it's sheath and stared at Iya in shock. Slowly, he mulled over it and let it sink in before saying "I thought father only had two sons: me and Sesshomaru."

"No, he had three." Iya corrected. "I was the middle child."

Frowning, Inuyasha stared into Iya's muddy brown eyes, asking "Where have you been then?"

Deeply sighing, Iya sadly smiled. "I have been away for the last two and half centuries trying to complete my last task that father gave me. It's kept me away till now."

Inuyasha lightly nodded and frowned while processing the information. Looking around, he asked "Are those two I smell with you?"

Somewhat shocked that Inuyasha could detect them, Iya softly smiled and nodded. "Yes, those two are with me."

Turning to their location, Iya calmly called out "Ichigo, Lilly, come on out."

Lilly instantly came out of hiding, but Ichigo was a bit slower to make his presence known. Walking up to Iya, Lilly noted how both Inuyasha and Iya looked similar, other than their hair and eye color, and Iya's demon markings.

Sniffing the air, Iya caught the scent of vanilla and cherry petals in the air. Tracing the source back to the well, Iya calmly asked "Inuyasha, who is in the well back there?"

Taking a whiff of the air himself, Inuyasha quickly bound off towards the well. Reaching in, he pulled an oversized yellow backpack out and set it off to the side. Once more reaching in, he pulled a young woman out with mid-back length ebony black hair, creamy colored skin, soft chocolate colored eyes, and a kind smile. She wore odd attire to Iya and the others, consisting of a white long sleeve shirt with a green collar and a red scarf tied up in it, a short green skirt that came up to her mid-thigh, and long white socks that reached up to her calves.

"Thank you Inuyasha." she warmly commented as she stood up beside of the well and smoothed out her skirt. Noting the others standing near the ancient tree, she looked inquisitively to Inuyasha for answers.

Slightly flustered, Inuyasha was about to answer when Iya walked over and smiled. He lightly bowed, saying "Good afternoon, my name is Iya Taisho."

Returning the bow, the girl smiled back and replied "Very nice to meet you Iya. My name is Kagome Higurashi."

Looking between Iya and Inuyasha, Kagome frowned lightly. "Inuyasha, you sort of look like Iya."

"Feh, there's a reason." Inuyasha grumpily said. "He's my half brother."

Eyes widening, Kagome gasped a bit and asked "Really!?" Suddenly, her mood shifted from shocked to cautious as she asked "Wait, you're not here to take Tetsusaiga, are you?"

Chuckling, Iya shook his head. "No, I have no interest in Tetsusaiga. After all, I have my own sword, Ketsaiga."

Noticing it for the first time, Inuyasha gruffly asked "Did the old man give you that sword?"

"Yes, father gave it to me when I was fifteen." Iya commented.

With a faint hint of mischief, Kagome asked "Did Sesshomaru try to take it from you?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya shook his head, saying "No, he left it alone. Sesshomaru didn't become interested in father's swords till father mated with Inuyasha's mother."

Hearing someone clear their throat, the group of three turned to see it was Ichigo and Lilly, with Ichigo tapping his foot impatiently.

Rubbing the back of his head, Iya smiled and said "Oops, how silly of me, I forgot to introduce you two to my friends."

Pointing to Ichigo, Iya smoothly introduced him. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki. Me and him have traveled together for the last twenty years."

Motioning towards Lilly, he added "This is Lilly Takashi. She started traveling with us a few days ago."

Lilly lightly bowed to Kagome and Inuyasha, and pleasantly said "Nice to meet both of you, Inuyasha and Kagome."

Smiling back at her, Kagome lightly bowed herself, replying with "It's nice to meet you too Lilly."

Ichigo and Inuyasha simply stared at one another before Iya elbowed Ichigo. Grumbling, he mumbled "Nice to meet you both."

"Whatever…" Inuyasha remarked, earning him a glare from Kagome.

Turning her attention back to Iya, Kagome sweetly asked "So, you're Inuyasha's half brother, right?"

"That's correct." Iya simply stated.

Frowning, she asked "Why haven't we met you before?"

Sighing heavily, Iya replied "I've been away completing a task that our father left for me."

"Oh, I see." Kagome acknowledged. "Well, it's nice to meet you at the least."

Softly smiling, Iya nodded. "It's nice to meet you as well. I do have a quick question though. I had heard you traveled with a monk, a demon slayer, a young kitsune child, and a small neko cat. I'm curious, where are they?"

"None of your business." Inuyasha growled out.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome sweetly singsong like said while staring at him. His tough exterior quickly faltered as he glanced at her. "SIT BOY!"

The purple prayer beads around his neck instantly glowed at the words said, sending Inuyasha plummeting to the ground face first. He soon jumped up and angrily snarled "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?"

"Don't be rude Inuyasha. You want to make a good impression on your brother, don't you?" Kagome slyly asked.

"Like I give a rat's ass about what he thinks of me." he argued back.

Glaring at Inuyasha, Kagome yelled "SIT BOY!"

Once more, Inuyasha's prayer beads sent him flying to the ground, slamming him face first into the dirt.

Sweat dropping at this, Iya slowly asked "Kagome, how are you doing that?"

Pointing at the beads, Inuyasha mumbled slowly as he rose up from the dirt "These damn beads of subjugation gives her to the power to subdue me."

Sighing, Kagome calmly said "When I say sit…"

Instantly upon saying the word, Inuyasha plowed back into the ground and let out an infuriated growl.

Shocked at what happened, Kagome stooped down and softly tried to help Inuyasha up. "I'm so sorry about that Inuyasha. I didn't mean to subdue you that time." she apologetically said.

Grumbling to himself, Inuyasha got up and glared at Kagome. Staring at her sincere eyes, Inuyasha's cheeks seemed to lightly glow pink, forcing him to look away and cross his arms. "Feh, whatever!" he responded.

Sighing heavily, Kagome stood up and turned to Iya, saying "Sorry about that. When I say that word, it subdues him."

"I see. That explains why he got a mouth full of dirt." Iya teased.

Growling, Inuyasha was about to say something when he saw Kagome's harsh glare, making him ignore the comment.

"Iya, you mentioned about our other friends a bit earlier. They're at the village right now. Is there a reason you wish to see them?" Kagome cautiously asked.

Nodding, Iya replied "Yes, there is. I have something important to tell you all, so I wish to address all of you at once."

"Well then, shall we go to the village?" Kagome sweetly asked.

Nodding, Iya replied "The sooner the better."

The six immediately headed towards the village beyond the meadow where the well and the ancient tree sat. In the village, Lilly moved closer to Iya's side. The stares and whispers about her and the others made her feel very insecure.

Noting how she was pressing closer and closer to his side, Iya threw a glare at the villagers who were whispering and staring at Lilly, making many move along.

Arriving at a hut at long last, Kagome walked in and immediately walked back out with a frown on her face. "They're not here."

"Probably down by the stream then." Inuyasha calmly said while crossing his arms once more.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Come on, let's go down and make sure." Kagome kindly said.

Leading the way, Kagome brought them down to the stream where four people were. The first that came into view was a young kitsune demon with reddish orange hair with a blue ribbon tied up in it, green mischievous eyes, pointed ears, little clawed hands and fox like feet, and a fluffy fox tail sticking out of his back. He wore a shirt similar in color to his ribbon with a leaf print design in it, an orange vest, and a deep shade of blue pants.

Next in view were a young woman and young man sitting beside of one another. The young woman had long brown hair and deep brown eyes. Her clothing consisted of a long green skirt with a light and dark mixture of pink kimono top. Underneath of the long sleeves were a set of black skin tight sleeves that flexed around one finger. She wore simple sandals, and had black skin tight pant legs coming out of her skirt.

The young man had black hair in a small pony tail and had soft violet colored eyes. He wore an outer purple kimono, with an inner black one and sandals. On his right hand was a purple glove like cloth that was wrapped with prayer beads. Near him, a golden staff with a circle at the top with six rings, three on each side of the circle.

Running around a little ways off from the group was a young boy with brown hair that would have reached his shoulder blades if not for being in a pony tail, and had dark brown eyes that seemed to have great pain behind them. He wore a simple grey kimono with shorts and had tape on both his writs up to his mid-arm and the same from his ankle to his mid-calves.

The young boy was chasing after a small neko demon with golden fur and black on it's ears, paws, and twin tails. It also had a black spot on it's forehead in the shape of a diamond.

Noting the arrival of everyone, the group looked up curiously at the new people. Kagome softly smiled, saying "Hey guys!"

"Kagome, you're back." the young woman commented. "Who are the people with you?"

Turning to Iya for introductions, Iya began them. "My name is Iya Taisho. I'm Inuyasha's older half brother."

The five all seemed a touch surprised, with the young monk asking "Why haven't we seen you before then?"

"I've been away for the last two and half centuries, but I'll get to that. For now, I've returned." Iya replied. Pointing next to Ichigo, he said "This is Ichigo Kurosaki, and this young woman next to him is Lilly Takashi."

Standing up, the monk walked over and offered his hand, saying "My name is Miroku. This young lady with me is my fiancé Sango, and the young boy there is her younger brother Kohaku. The kitsune is Shippou, and the small neko demon is Kirara, Sango's pet."

"Nice to meet all of you." Iya kindly said and lightly bowed. Lilly did the same, but Ichigo only scoffed at the display.

Finally, the group settled down and took up seats. Turning to Iya, Inuyasha said "You told me you met me when I was five. Are you sure that was me, because I don't remember you."

Chuckling, Iya nodded his head. "Yes, it was you, I'm sure of it. I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you the tale about it."

Softly smiling, Iya slowly began, saying "It was two and half centuries ago almost. Five years after father had died, I was returning to the Western Lands…"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running through the woods, Iya silently cursed to himself over losing the scent he had been tracking. "Damn it, of all times, I had to lose it now."

Continuing to move, he caught the scent of something peculiar to him. Wrinkling up his nose, he took another sniff and frowned once more. "_Odd, why do I smell father and Lady Izayoi's scents?_"

Deciding to investigate, Iya finally broke off his course and headed towards the scent he had detected. Along the way, he picked up five more scents, all five being that of an ogre demon tribe. Hurrying along, Iya began to pick up the sounds of the ogres.

Hearing them, he heard one saying "Looks like we finally got you now you little brat. Running away from us wasn't very nice. Now we'll have to carve you up into pieces slowly."

Iya could hear in the distance whimpering, sounding like that of a child. Hurrying, Iya arrived at the scene finally and saw the five green ogres encircling a child with silver hair and dog ears, wearing a red kimono.

Calling out to the ogres, Iya said "Halt there demons."

The ogres instantly turned and began laughing, with one the closest to him saying "It's just another half breed. I think he should be the one we eat first."

"I agree." another one said with a deep voice.

Letting out a warning growl, Iya calmed and smoothly said "My name is Iya Taisho, brother of the Lord of the Western Lands. I demand you stand down and leave now."

The ogres only laughed once more. "You demand we leave?" one mocked.

"Hilarious a half breed would ever say something like that to us." another added.

"We have no intention on leaving till we eat you and that brat." one of the others said.

The five slowly began to close in on Iya's position, who made no move to step back or get away. Coldly, he growled out "I'm warning you to stand down now. Refuse and I won't be accountable for what happens to any of you."

Again the five laughed and continued forward. Sighing deeply, Iya waited for them to make the first move. He wasn't disappointed at all when two leapt forward to grab hold of him. With great agility, Iya leapt into the air and released a blue energy whip from his index and middle finger on his right hand at the first ogre, tearing it in two easily and disintegrating it. Pulling his whip around, he beheaded the second with just as much ease before retracting his whip, causing the second one to disintegrate.

In terror, the three remaining ogres quickly tried to run away, but couldn't due that Iya cut off their point of exit by leaping in the way.

"Leave this area and never return. Do and you'll face me once more." Iya coldly stated.

The ogres all nodded fearfully before running away as quick as they could. Softly smiling at the sight, Iya turned his attention back to the cowering child on the ground. He was curled up in a fetal ball, shaking terribly.

Taking in the child's scent, Iya frowned a bit. "_His scent, it's the one I was tracking earlier. How can it be that he shares a similar scent to that of father and Lady Izayoi, unless…_"

Hearing the child hiccup broke Iya out of his thoughts and made him kindly smile at the child. Softly, he placed a kind hand on the child's shoulder, saying "Don't be afraid, I'm here to help you."

Looking up, the child looked at Iya and into his muddy brown eyes. Gold met brown, and the child lightly nodded. Sitting up, Iya softly smiled at the fact the child was a half demon.

"You look like me mister. You have ears on your head too." the young boy blurted out.

Swiveling his ears a little, Iya lightly chuckled and nodded. "You're right, we're the same, me and you. We're both half demons."

With a soft smile, Iya kindly asked "Do you mind telling me your name?"

"It's Inuyasha!" the little boy was quick to say with pride in his voice.

"Inuyasha huh? That's a nice name." Iya admitted. "My name is Iya."

"I like your name." Inuyasha kindly said. Frowning a little bit, he mumbled "I'm scared…"

Somewhat shocked by this admittance, Iya asked "Why is that Inuyasha?"

"I'm lost. My momma told me not to go into the woods alone, but some kids at the village told me to meet them out here so we could play together. When I got out here, no one was around but those ogres…" Inuyasha replied with tears filling his eyes.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, he added "I thought they were going to eat me, and I was so scared."

Comforting Inuyasha, Iya pulled the child up into his lap and embraced the young child, cooing to him "It's alright now. I'll protect you."

Sniffling a bit, Inuyasha looked up at Iya and slowly dried his tears. "Really?" he asked.

"I promise you, I will make sure you get home." Iya replied.

Brightening a bit, Inuyasha got up and Iya stood. Hunching over, Iya pointed towards his back, saying "Hop on. I'll carry you back to the village."

Gently, Inuyasha crawled up onto Iya's back. Finally securely on, Iya softly asked "Ready?"

Inuyasha quickly replied "Yep."

"Good. Now, hang on." Iya said.

Standing up, he began sprinting off in the direction of a nearby stream. He could hear the water running, and smell the cleanness of it. Finding it, he followed along it for a while.

"This is fun!" Inuyasha happily said while laughing loudly.

Lightly chuckling at Inuyasha, Iya looked ahead to see a village coming up. "Inuyasha, where is your mother's hut?"

"It's on the outskirts of the village." Inuyasha chirped.

Nodding, Iya ran towards the outskirts and soon found a solitary hut with beautiful purple flowers growing out front. Stopping, Iya let Inuyasha down off his back and slowly walked towards the hut. Inuyasha immediately went running towards it, calling out "Mommy, mommy, I'm home!"

Walking out, Iya saw the same beautiful woman he had met over five years ago. She had butt length black hair, soft caring brown eyes, creamy pale skin, and painted red lips. She wore a blue inner kimono that draped low to the ground, and a pink outer kimono with cherry blossoms embroidered on the shoulders and sleeves.

Looking up at Iya, the woman gasped in shock and stood there with widened eyes. Paying no attention, Inuyasha grabbed her hand with his small clawed hand and pointed towards Iya. Happily, he said "Mommy, this nice man saved me from some demons."

Breaking out of her trance, the woman looked down and frowned, asking "Where did the demons come from?"

Looking down with a bit of shame, Inuyasha mumbled "I went into the woods… Some children of the village told me to meet them out there, but when I got there, I found the ogres instead. I'm sorry, I disobeyed you…"

Brightening a little bit, Inuyasha added "But the nice man saved me and brought me home."

Smiling great big, Inuyasha added "He's a half demon like me!"

"I see. Thank you sir." the woman kindly said. "Inuyasha, why don't you go on and play in the backyard, ok?"

Smiling, Inuyasha nodded and compliantly ran towards the back of the house. Before rounding the corner, he stopped and ran back to Iya and bowed slightly, saying "Thank you Iya for saving me and bringing me home."

Softly smiling back, Iya ruffed up Inuyasha's hair and replied "You're welcome. Go have some fun out back."

"Okay!" Inuyasha enthusiastically said.


	7. Chapter 7: Little Brother, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! So, my week has been pretty decent I suppose. I'm still picking away at this story in my spare time at home, hoping to get more of it wrote so I can post more chapters. Thus far, that's not working out so well, lol. Either my mate (wife) pulls me away from the computer with some kind of mischief in her eyes or I'm tired and don't have the energy to work on it. Hopefully I'll get more time to work on this story though. Lol, it and my Yugioh GX fan fic, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, keep me rather busy. Plus, I have so many fan fics to catch up on! Arg, too little time to do everything, I suppose.**

**At any rate, I see this story is getting plenty of hits, which is pretty cool. So, in the meantime, I'll go ahead and do the review I got.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Wow, your name changed again, lol. I can't keep up with them hardly at all, hehe. But that's cool. Yes, I'm horrible at leaving mean cliffhangers for people. Glad you liked the chapter. True, Kagome doesn't use her 'Sit' command on Inuyasha very much anymore. I can only remember maybe once since Kikyo died also. She's going easy on him, I suppose, lol. Anyways, I know she's rough on him in my story, but I'm used to the Kagome that will 'Sit' him at the drop of a hat I guess. At any rate, thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's all the reviews. I'm surprised I'm getting so many hits on this story. It keeps going up even more every day or so. At any rate, here is the deal with me posting chapters. Next week, I'm going to post on Wednesday like I normally do. The following week, I'll post two again. I'm going to rotate the two, that way I'll have time to write on this story, plus everyone will get a few more chapters than usual. I hope everyone thinks that is fair.**

**Anyways, till Wednesday, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later all!**

**Chapter 7**

Once Inuyasha rounded the corner, Iya came over and sat down on the porch. The woman sat down as well with a great distance between the two. The two sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Iya finally broke it.

"Izayoi, you look well." Iya warmly commented.

Looking down at her hands, she whispered "Are you here due to Sesshomaru?"

Frowning, Iya asked "What are you talking about?"

Quickly looking up at Iya's face, she studied his eyes with her own fierce brown eyes and finally sighed, saying "I see, you're telling the truth."

"Truth about what?" Iya asked in complete confusion.

"Sesshomaru is looking for the Tetsusaiga and thinks me or Inuyasha one has it." Izayoi calmly said.

Understanding hit Iya immediately, as he moved over closer to her and put a comforting hand on Izayoi's. "Don't worry, I'm not here about Tetsusaiga. Besides, Sesshomaru is barking up the wrong tree if he thinks you have it."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Izayoi looked up at Iya and softly smiled. "There is the smile I remember." Iya commented.

"It's been a while since I've had anything to smile about, other than Inuyasha." she was quick to reply.

The two proceeded to talk for a few hours afterward, catching up on what had since happened after the death of Inutaisho, Iya's father and Izayoi's mate. Once the two finished up, Iya glanced around the hut and back at Izayoi.

"Izayoi, would you permit me to stay a few days?" he gently asked.

Smiling instantly, Izayoi replied "Of course you may. You're family Iya. You are more than welcome to stay."

"Thank you. While I'm here, I'll help out with things around the hut, ok?" Iya offered.

Kindly smiling, Izayoi responded with "You don't have to, but if you wish to, you are more than welcomed to."

"Thank you Lady Izayoi."

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"Iya, it's dinner time!" Izayoi called out while walking towards the hanyou that was chopping wood.

Stopping, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and smiled slightly. Letting it slip away, he said "Izayoi, I wish to ask you something."

Frowning, she walked on over to him, asking "What is it?"

"I've come to a decision on what I should do from here on. I want to stay and protect both you and Inuyasha, and to train him like I was." Iya calmly stated.

Izayoi pondered his words for a moment before shaking her head and quietly saying "No."

"No?" Iya asked with a touch of shock.

"Don't abandon your duty." Izayoi calmly said. "Your father charged you with it, meaning he entrusted you to complete it. Iya, please, it was his last command that he asked you to fulfill."

Deeply sighing, Iya turned away and quietly asked "What about you and Inuyasha? I don't want to leave the two of you unprotected."

"We'll make it. We did this far, so don't worry about us. I promise, we'll be fine." Izayoi vowed.

Letting out another deep sigh, Iya finally mumbled "Alright, you win. I'll continue on with my task."

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"The next day, I left the two of you and returned to the Western Stronghold. I eventually found the trail I had lost and continued on with my pursuit. A year or two later, I heard of your mother's death and came back for you, Inuyasha, but you were no where to be found. The villagers were less than helpful as well…" Iya sourly said.

"So, we did meet…" Inuyasha mumbled. "I really don't remember it that well. I just remember you found me and took me home, then stayed a few days. Heh, I never knew you were my brother."

Softly smiling, Iya replied "I know. Me and Izayoi kept quiet about that around you, just so you wouldn't get confused."

"How cool though that you have a brother Inuyasha." Kagome happily shouted out.

Getting a glare from him, she revised her statement, saying "I mean one that likes you and talks to you normally."

"I take it Sesshomaru still treats you badly then?" Iya asked.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha angrily spat out "Treats me badly! Hell, that's a bad analogy for it! More like treats me like crap and thinks I owe him everything."

"That's Sesshomaru for you." Iya remarked.

Turning serious, Iya added "But that's not the reason I came here."

"Yeah, I'm curious to know why you are here Iya. Not to seem rude, but to drop in after two and half centuries to visit seems rather cruel." Kagome admonished.

Lightly chuckling, Iya nodded in response. "True, it is, but I have some serious business to discuss. First, I'd like to congratulate you all on destroying Naraku. From what I heard and saw, he was a nasty half demon to have dealt with."

"Wait, saw? When did you see Naraku!?" Miroku piped up.

Thinking for a moment, Iya turned to Ichigo, asking "Wasn't it about six months or so ago?"

"Yeah, nearly six or so months ago." Ichigo responded gruffly.

"You actually saw him!? What was he doing, where was he!?" Sango quickly interjected.

Lightly chuckling, Iya held his hands up, saying "Hold on a minute and I'll explain. First, I must tell you why I'm here, which really goes back a ways."

Taking a deep breath, Iya slowly said "A little over two and half centuries ago, or more like two-hundred-fifty-five years ago for a sure time period, I was living in the Western Lands. Our father, Inutaisho, had just mated with Lady Izayoi, your mother Inuyasha, earlier that year. She was already pregnant with you and very near her due date. Peace seemed bountiful within the Western Lands at the time, but that was soon over."

"Without warning, thirteen demon mages, calling themselves The Thirteen, attacked a human village very near the Western Stronghold. In the attack, twelve humans were kidnapped by the mages. They were hauled off, but word soon got to the Western Stronghold. The village was under our protection, so father quickly went out after the mages. He pursued them throughout the Western Lands till he came to the border. They had crossed over into the Eastern Lands, but father didn't pursue. He instead tracked me down."

"At the time, I was patrolling the borders of the lands and preparing to head back to the Western Stronghold when father caught up with me. He explained the situation to me and told me to go pursue the mages. He wished to pursue them himself, but he didn't wish to leave your mother alone with her being so very close to giving birth. In his place, I was to go after the mages."

Pausing for a moment, Iya added "I also informed him of some minor attacks on our borders that the dragon, Ryuukossei, had been performing. He was committing hit and run attacks on border villages, putting the villages at high alert. Father told me he would deal with Ryuukossei while I dealt with the mages. At that, I left to trail the mages."

Closing his eyes, Iya reopened them with sadness filling them and his voice. "A month passed and a servant of my father's caught up with me. He informed me that my father had died."

The group all lightly gasped in shock, but Iya pressed forward. "He had battled with Ryuukossei, only to be badly wounded. Father didn't kill the dragon, but managed to seal him away."

"Yeah… Myoga told me that the battle had left father with bad wounds." Inuyasha input.

Nodding, Iya added "The wounds didn't directly kill him, but the battle had come at a bad time. Your mother went into labor that night of the battle. After resting lightly, father went to Lady Izayoi for your birth, only to arrive to find her dead already thanks to Takemaru of Setsuna."

Lightly growling, Iya calmed and said "Father brought Lady Izayoi back to life, but Takemaru and him fought on while she escaped with you. Weakened from his wounds already, father fought on in the midst of a fire with Takemaru. In the end, both perished."

"When I had heard this, I returned home to pay my respects to father, and to help with finishing up father's last wishes. Some of them consisted of hiding Tetsusaiga within his grave, along with delivering Tenseiga to Sesshomaru, although I didn't officially deliver it to him. I kind of gave that chore to Totosai, who hung it off of the old demon tree that was used to make our swords' sheathes."

"Sounds like the old man…" Inuyasha grumbled.

Lightly chuckling at the comment, Iya continued on. "I also threw Sounga into the Bone Eaters Well, making sure it never returned."

"Hate to interrupt, but it did." Inuyasha pointed out.

Nodding, Iya replied "I know. Totosai mentioned it to me, but he also told me you and Sesshomaru managed to send it Hell, which I'm rather thankful for."

"Feh, it was nothing. I did most of the work." Inuyasha remarked.

Chuckling once more, Iya shook his head and then said "Anyways, once that was done, I searched for you and your mother, Inuyasha. I didn't find either of you after two weeks of searching, so I resided myself to continue my pursuit of the mages. For five years, I tracked them, but eventually returned to the Western Lands where the mages had struck once more. After spending time with you and your mother, I went on my way and picked up the trail once again."

"For nearly two-hundred-fifty-five years, I've been chasing the mages. Twenty years ago, me and Ichigo here met up and discovered we each were chasing the mages. We decided to join forces and fight the mages together."

"Have you not been able to kill any of them yet!?" Inuyasha impatiently asked, which earned him a sharp glare from Kagome.

Softly smiling at the question, Iya replied "Actually, I managed to kill three on my own. I fought one the first time, then two the next. By the time I began traveling with Ichigo, we met up with three and managed to kill them."

"So, that's six down, seven to go." Sango input.

Nodding in response, Iya said "Yes, it is, but the remaining seven are the strongest. They are not only well versed in spells, but are quite adept fighters as well. Each has learned some style of fighting, and none rely on spells alone. Many have taken up fighting with a sword, while some choose hand to hand combat. Each mage is very different."

"Still, you've defeated six, which is good." Kagome warmly said.

"I suppose so, but it won't be over till all seven are defeated." Iya admitted with a sigh.

"So, why bother telling us again?" Inuyasha growled out irritably, earning him a glare from Kagome and her saying "SIT BOY!"

Chuckling at Inuyasha's misfortune of having his face planted in the dirt, Iya calmly said "The reason I come to you all is simple. They wish to take new slaves due to Naraku's defeat."

Frowning, Miroku asked "Why us? And what does this have to do with Naraku?"

"Very good question, eh, Miroku wasn't it?" Iya questioned.

Getting a reply with a nod, Iya continued on, saying "This has everything to do with Naraku. I'll explain. About six or so months ago, Naraku and the seven remaining of The Thirteen met up. Me and Ichigo were lucky enough to be within the area of the meeting and overheard all of it."

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Hunkered down in the bushes, Iya glanced up ahead at the open area with several trees lined up in a circle. Leaning against some of the trees were several people wearing black robes, with two figures, one wearing a black robe as well, in the middle.

The first had long midnight black hair that reached his mid-back. Some sliver of his bangs hung loosely in his face in some sort of white ornament with three grooves allowing it to hang. On the side of his head, a similar ornament was worn, but only had two groves. He had pointed ears and grey colored eyes. He wore a white scarf around his neck that trailed far behind him.

In front of him stood a man with long ebony black hair that reached his butt, pale skin, and red eyes. He wore a fine light blue kimono with a purple interior and a yellow obi sash. He also had silver like armor underneath of his kimono that had a red eye in the center of his chest. On his shoulders were to large dull silver spikes sticking out, and two handle like structures coming out of his shoulders that went to his back, which had spikes on the outer part. His arms had spiked gauntlets with spikes that came up to his elbows, and his shoulders had nearly the same thing. From his back, four green tendrils stuck out that stood slightly above the ground. His eyes defined his intentions were evil, and he had a cocky attitude about him.

"Naraku, we have come as you asked, so speak. You mentioned you wished to meet with us to discuss some nonaggression pact?" the man before the sinister half demon spoke.

Nodding lightly, Naraku smoothly said "That is right Mage Byakuya. What I offer is a nonaggression pact so we do not have to fight one another. I can see that the seven of you are strong, but I have no desire to quarrel with you."

"Why should we bother signing some pact? You're obviously weak and need us to leave you be, so give us a good reason for not killing you." a man spoke who was leaning against a nearby tree. He had long dull looking black hair that reached his mid-back, white skin, two purple marks pointed downwards off of his eyebrows, and snake like slit olive eyes.

Glancing at the man, another leaning against a nearby tree smoothly said "Now, now my dear brother, Orochimaru, let us hear what the half breed has to say."

This man had white hair that was not very long, closed eyes that made it look like he continuously squinted, and wore a grin.

Glaring at the man, Naraku smartly said "I will no longer be a half demon soon enough Mage Ichimaru."

"But of course you won't, due that you'll have the whole Shikon no Tama soon enough, right? I bet it'll be priceless once you get it." a woman commented from another tree. She had long blonde hair that reached her lower back, a single blue diamond mark on her forehead, golden eyes, creamy skin, a lean muscular body, and rather large breasts pressing up against her robes.

Glancing at the woman, Naraku softly chuckled. "Mage Tsunade, I shall acquire the last fragment of the Sacred Jewel soon enough. And yes, I would guess it is priceless."

"With a rock like that, you could treat us to some really good times!" a man near the woman joked. He had long, spiky white hair that reached down to his upper calves, a large grin on his face, red demonic markings coming down like tears, black eyes, and had some signs of older age. He wore a headband on his forehead with two small spikes sticking out on either side, large wooden sandals, and had a huge red scroll with green on the corners of the scroll hanging off his back.

Darkly chuckling, Naraku closed his eyes and was about to answer when another man with long red hair bound in a pony tail that reached his lower back, violet eyes, a cross shaped scar on his left cheek, and a sword sticking out of his robes spoke up.

"Some good times would be good, that it would." he said with a smile.

"You two spend too much time drinking as it is." the last person calmly said from another tree. He had long red hair that reached his lower back, emerald green eyes, and pointed ears.

"Jiraiya, Kenshin, and Kurama, allow our guest to speak." Byakuya commanded. Seeing the three quiet, he added "I shall ask you one thing. Why would it benefit us to sign this pact with you?"

Slightly smirking, Naraku coolly said "It would keep us for one from being at one another's throats. Another good point to the pact is there will be no squabbles over territories…"

"We have no desire to take up land." Byakuya flatly said.

"Nope, that we do not." Kenshin added with a smile.

"The question is what can you offer us Naraku that we will use?" Orochimaru slyly asked.

Sighing a bit, Naraku calmly replied "I offer you slaves first. I know that you occasionally require new ones, and I can personally create new ones for you from my own body. They will be to your liking, and completely obedient."

"We can handle getting our own slaves. They're not hard to find anymore." Jiraiya remarked.

"I agree, they're not, but think of it, you wouldn't have to go search for them. You could come to me and I would create them on the spot for you." Naraku said with persuasion in his voice.

The group pondered over the words for a moment till the silence was broken by Byakuya, who said "That would be helpful for the others, but that does not apply to me. I have my own slave, and do not require a new one."

Nodding, Naraku quickly said "That maybe so, but I have other things to offer. Once I complete the Sacred Jewel, I shall destroy the Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshomaru, along with all of the other Lords of the Lands. I am more than happy to donate the Western Lands to the group, thus giving you a place to stay. Besides, from what I understand, Mage Tsunade and Mage Jiraiya family hailed from those lands and were cast out by Lord Sesshomaru's father, Inutaisho. Think of it as a homecoming gift."

"Again, we do not wish to hold lands." Byakuya stated coldly.

"It would be nice to have the Western Lands back though." Tsunade thoughtfully remarked.

Smiling, Jiraiya added "Yeah, to have them back to ourselves would be nice. I like the sound of us running them."

"Party all the time, that we could." Kenshin remarked.

"Enough. Naraku, do you fear us?" Orochimaru boldly asked.

Frowning a bit, Naraku finally said "I do not, but I do not wish to fight yet another enemy. I am currently dealing with enough enemies, and I do not wish to have another set to fight with. I'm sure from what I've surmised, you are in the same boat as I am."

Grunting, Ichimaru calmly said "Our current problem is none of your concern. It is more of an annoyance."

"Not from what I've gathered." Naraku pressed. "He has taken down six of your brethren and has been joined by another, making it more difficult for you to stay in one place for too long."

"He's got us there, that he does." Kenshin chimed in.

"Enough!" Byakuya growled out. Closing his eyes, he finally reopened them and said "Naraku, we will sign your pact, but only on specific terms."

Nodding, Naraku asked "What are your terms?"

"You will first make the slaves for the others. I have no need of a new one, but they may. You will create them to their specifications." Byakuya stoically stated.

"Very well, I shall do that." Naraku agreed.

Nodding, Byakuya added "Next, when you have completed your precious Sacred Jewel and become a full demon, and once you have taken out the four Lords of the Lands, you will deed the Western Lands to us."

"Not a problem. It shall be done."

Staring at Naraku, Byakuya finally said "The last thing is a personal favor to us. You will kill the pests, Iya Taisho and Ichigo Kurosaki, for us."

"Wait, I never said I'd kill your enemies!" Naraku argued.

"You wish to sign this pact, don't you?" Byakuya challenged.

Squeezing his fists tightly till his knuckles were white, Naraku growled out "I do."

"Then agree to it." Byakuya stated.

Deeply sighing, Naraku lightly smirked. "Very well, I shall agree to it. I will kill this Iya and Ichigo."

"Good. Then we have an agreement." Byakuya calmly said. "Come, we will sign it and be done with this meeting."

The eight walked over to a large flat rock and picked up a piece of paper. Writing down the procurements of the agreement, the mages each signed the paper, as did Naraku.

"We have a nonaggression pact then." Byakuya stated. "Now, begin with making the slaves for my colleagues."

Nodding, Naraku moved off to the side and began listening to each of the mages' requests for a perfect slave while Iya and Ichigo inched away.

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"The pact Naraku made was binding, but Naraku snuck in a few surprises for them." Iya recounted to the group before him.

Frowning, Miroku asked "What kind of surprises?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya said "Naraku created each of the mages, but their leader, a new slave from his own body, calling them incarnations. Each was made specifically for each mage. But Naraku held back their hearts, making it so he could control them."

"I see… He did the same thing to Kagura, so that he could remain in control of his creations." Inuyasha calmly said.

"Correct. Naraku did fear the mages, but knew if he could get their power, he would be unstoppable. So, he plotted and schemed to take their power with the help of the slaves he made." Iya remarked. "The only problem was he died before he could get their power."

"Thankfully." Kohaku, the young shy boy, said.

Brows knitted with concentration, Kagome spoke up. "Iya, did Naraku ever attack you?"

Graciously smiling, Iya nodded, responding with "Yes, he did. Two days later, Naraku caught up with me and Ichigo."

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Softly walking along, Iya sniffed the air and smirked. Swiveling his ears, Iya located the source of the smell. "He's here." Iya whispered to Ichigo.

Nodding in response, Ichigo whispered back "Do you want to take him on, or me?"

"I'll handle this." Iya mumbled.

Walking on, the pair saw Naraku standing in the middle of a clearing. He had his arms crossed and head down with his eyes closed. Hearing Iya and Ichigo approach, he glanced up, revealing his red eyes and evilly smirked.

"Ah, Iya Taisho and Ichigo Kurosaki, I presume?" he smoothly asked.

"That would be us." Iya calmly replied. "And it was Naraku I believe. What a pleasure it is to meet you at long last. I've heard so much about you through rumors."

"I'm flattered." Naraku darkly said with a chuckle. "But enough of these pleasantries for now, for I was sent to kill you both."

Smirking, Iya calmly replied "I know. We heard that you had entered into a pact with the mages in hopes of keeping from fighting them. You're a fool to think they'll keep their end of the bargain."

Chuckling darkly, Naraku arrogantly said "I will kill the mages in due time. After all, I hold the hearts of their dear slaves in my hand, meaning I can take control of them whenever I choose. The mages are no concern to me now, but to maintain this pact, I must kill you both. And I shall maintain it, granting me all that I desire."

Shrugging, Iya yawned and turned away from Naraku. "Whatever. Just don't come crying to us when they betray you."

Growling deeply, Naraku lifted his right arm up and his hand became a huge claw like structure with great length. Swinging his arm wide, he yelled "Don't you turn your back on me you half breed!"

Ichigo was quick to move away when Naraku had made his move, but Iya only stood still. The claw swung straight at Iya, but before it could strike him, he vanished. Confused, Naraku glanced around, only to find Iya standing behind him.

"That wasn't very nice Naraku. Attacking a man in the back while he's walking away is rather dishonorable." Iya admonished.

Lightly growling, Naraku calmed and lightly chuckled and replied "True, but who claimed I was honorable?"

Upon saying those words, the four tendrils sticking out his back came to life and shot out at Iya. He easily evaded and moved to Naraku's front side once more.

Infuriated lightly, Naraku shot his tendrils to the front and swung his clawed hand at Iya, who jumped back and shot out his blue energy whip. The whip sung through the air and cut through the four tendrils with ease, but upon doing so, a dark cloud of smoke came pouring out of the tendrils.

Retracting his whip, Iya pulled back a bit. "Miasma…" he muttered.

Darkly chuckling, Naraku commented "That's right Iya. Cut me and you will get a taste of my miasma."

Smirking at this, Iya calmly replied "Very well. I'll just have to blow you apart."

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Iya drew it out, instantly causing it to glow with white energy. Once the energy settled, the sword was revealed to be a large halberd with a black ring of fur as a guard.

Staring at the sword, Naraku frowned, saying "That sword, it looks like Inuyasha's…"

"It should, seeing how it is a sister sword to the Tetsusaiga." Iya smartly remarked. "Ketsaiga may look like Tetsusaiga, but it is far different."

Leaping forward at blinding speed, Iya came straight at Naraku and began swinging his sword downward at Naraku's head. At the last instant, Iya's sword smashed into a red barrier. Finally seeing he couldn't push through the barrier, Iya leapt back off of it.

"Your sword maybe different, but my barrier won't allow it to cut me." Naraku smugly stated.

Lightly chuckling, Iya replied "Maybe so, but we'll see after this."

Lifting the blade up till it stood straight up in the air, it began to glow brightly with a white glow. After a moment, the blade began coating itself in ice, with a frosty steam coming off of it.

Pointing the sword once more at Naraku, Iya pulled it back and then swung sharply, crying out "Shard Storm!"

Thousands of small ice daggers formed on the blade of the sword, and with Iya swinging, the daggers were sent flying straight at Naraku, who confidently stood still. The first daggers touched the barrier, making Naraku confidently smirk, but suddenly, the daggers went straight through the barrier and through Naraku's body, making him gasp out in pain while his barrier dissolved.

Gasping out in pain as blood poured from his wounds, he glared at Iya and yelled "What have you done to me!?"

"I just gave you a taste of Ketsaiga's ice form. Those shards of ice I shot you with are not normal pieces of ice. They came from a powerful ice demon whose ice daggers could pierce any barrier." Iya explained.

Raising his sword once more, Iya rushed forward as the sword transformed back to it's previous state, that of a silver blade. With a mighty swing, Iya slammed the sword into the ground and cried out "Wind Slash!"

A single line of white energy went racing forward from the sword towards Naraku, splitting him in half and creating a massive explosion followed by a cloud of smoke, sending out pieces of flesh everywhere.

Glaring at the pieces of flesh, Iya took a sniff of the air and frowned. "Still alive I see." he commented.

Slowly, the pieces came to life and began flying to a single place where a large clump was left. After a few minutes, the pieces began reshaping to form Naraku's body. Finally, his head was pieced back together, with him panting heavily.

"What's the matter Naraku? Having more difficulty with this half breed than you thought?" Iya mocked.

Glaring at Iya, Naraku panted heavily still and asked "How is it possible for a half breed to have this much power?"

"Simple really." Iya calmly stated. "You underestimated me. Oh, and just so you know, my friend here, Ichigo, is just about as strong as myself. If you had somehow miraculously killed me, Ichigo would have struck you down in a second."

Staring incredulously at Iya and then Ichigo, Naraku caught his breath and growled loudly. Without warning, the red barrier reformed around him and he began floating into the air while shooting out miasma.

"I will let you live for now…" Naraku stated while floating away. "But I will kill you soon enough."

Glaring in Naraku's direction, Iya challengingly called out "Anytime Naraku."


	8. Chapter 8: First Strike

**Hey everyone. So, what's up? Not much here. Life goes on and on for me, lol.**

**I'm glad to see someone added my story to their favs. That means a lot to me really, so thank you very much. Also, I've noticed my story seems to be getting lots of hits, which is kind of surprising.**

**Thank you to Sayakagome929 for your review. I'm really glad you like my story thus far. I hope everyone thus far is happy with this story actually.**

**Well, I suppose I'll begin the chapter. I'll be back Monday next week, so till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

"That was the last time I saw Naraku. He never again challenged me or Ichigo." Iya recounted.

The group, other than Ichigo, all stared at Iya in shock with wide-eyes. "Wow…" Lilly mumbled.

Regaining their composure, the others finally nodded in agreement, with Kagome finally breaking the shocked silence. "So Iya, after that, what became of The Thirteen?"

"The mages continued to move along. Finally, a few weeks ago, when Naraku was defeated at your groups' hands, the mages made a stop." Iya calmly said. "When they stopped, their slaves suddenly all died at once, excluding Byakuya's apparently since he didn't take one from Naraku."

Slightly smirking, but then frowning, Iya added "The mages were furious at this insolence of Naraku's, but when they found out he had died, they were even more furious. Then and there, they group vowed to take up new slaves from the ones that had defeated Naraku."

Sighing deeply, Iya glanced from member to member of the group. "They intend on taking all of the humans that had a hand in Naraku's downfall and make them into their new slaves."

"What!?" Inuyasha roared, making Iya and Lilly both flatten their ears.

Pushing his ears back up, Iya sighed once more, saying "The mages intend on taking all of the humans that had a hand in Naraku's death, and the humans that were somehow associated with his downfall."

"But why attack us? We didn't do anything to them!?" Shippou asked with confusion.

Softly chuckling, Iya gave Shippou a soft smile and replied "Because they believe that the humans that helped bring Naraku down would make excellent slaves. To them, the humans would be strong, and be more than worth the trouble to collect them."

"There is one thing I don't understand." Miroku softly said with a furrowed brow. "Why only humans? I would think they'd want Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, as well as yourself as a slave."

"There is a reason." Ichigo answered. Lowly, he sadly said "They prefer humans due that they can cast a spell on them and transform them into half demons."

Frowning deeply, Sango asked "Why transform humans into half demons? That makes little sense."

"Not really." Iya acquitted. "The mages have the ability to cast their spell so that they can transform the human into any specific type of half demon that they want. Plus, the spell has a secondary function. Within thirty days, the newly created half demon will become fully enslaved to the mage that wove the spell. Also, since the slave is a half demon, the mage will have a slave that transforms back into a human once a month. As well, they have the ability to make the half demon fight their battles for them, and force them to transform into their full demon form if the situation is needed."

Lilly's eyes lowered upon hearing Iya explain this and began to shimmer with hints of tears forming. Catching the scent of salt getting ready to fall down Lilly's face, Iya sighed once more and added "But there is hope. Even though once the spell is cast, the transformed half demon can't become human permanently once more, the second part of the spell, the binding part, can be broken. This only occurs if the mage that cast the spell is killed before the spell is completed or the mage releases the binding spell within the thirty day grace period. I've never seen the mages release the binding spell, but it is possible from what I've learned."

"What if the spell has completed? Can the slave captured be freed by killing the mage?" Sango questioned.

Deeply sighing, Iya shook his head. "No, if the spell has been completed, then the slave is lost forever. Upon the thirty days being over, the slave loses all control of their mind, body, and soul. They're the mage's plaything from then on."

Looking down at the ground, Iya sadly added "Worst of all, if the mage is killed while the slave lives, the slave will transform into his or her berserker full demon state, much like how when Inuyasha loses control of himself, or I for that matter."

Lilly's eyes instantly widened in fear upon hearing this and looked down at the ground as tears slowly rolled down her face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that earlier Lilly." Iya softly whispered lowly so only she could hear.

Seeing Lilly crying, Kagome asked "Lilly, what's wrong sweetie?"

"It's, it's nothing…" she lightly sobbed out.

"It's my fault." Iya admitted. "You see, Lilly here was human a few days ago. One of The Thirteen, the mage known as Kenshin, attacked her and transformed her into a half neko demon. We only have twenty-eight days to kill Kenshin or we lose her forever."

Immediately, Sango and Kagome felt sadness in their own hearts for her and got up. Walking over, the two surrounded Lilly and embraced her. "I'm so sorry Lilly, we didn't know." Kagome softly whispered.

"It's alright…" Lilly mumbled while quietly sobbing still.

Turning to Inuyasha, Kagome looked at him with pleading eyes and said "We have to help her out."

"Feh, why the hell should we go out of our way to help her?" Inuyasha arrogantly questioned.

Gritting her teeth, Kagome angrily spat "SIT BOY!"

Inuyasha immediately slammed into the ground face first, leaving the others to softly sigh at the sight. "Idiot…" Shippou muttered.

"You all don't have to get involved in this." Iya calmly stated. "Ichigo and myself are more than capable of finding the mages."

"Yeah, but if they're coming after us also, it makes more sense for all of us to join together and fight the mages." Kagome argued.

Frowning a bit, Iya replied "I don't want to involve you all. I mean, it's too much trouble to drag you all away from your current lives."

Getting up off the ground, Inuyasha glared at Kagome, but said "Feh, as if we have a life currently. We're just getting done with following Naraku, hence we're not busy."

"I really don't wish to bother you all with it." Iya remarked.

"Iya, we don't mind. Besides, the more help you can get, the better chance of saving Lilly, right?" Miroku asked.

Sighing in defeat, Iya nodded and finally said "True. Thank you all."

"Feh, don't thank us yet. We've got a lot of work to do in order to track down the mages." Inuyasha stated.

"True, but things should be a little easier for us all now." Sango added.

"Let's just hope we can find Kenshin before then." Ichigo simply said.

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Rin was lightly humming a tune while her legs dangled over the side of Ah-Un. Ahead of Ah-Un, holding the reins, Jaken grumbled under his breath at Rin's annoying tune, while Sesshomaru serenely continued walking forward towards their destination.

Glancing up, Sesshomaru noted a figure in a black robe standing in the middle of the path with his hood drawn up. A sword stuck out from the robe, but that was all that could be seen of the figure.

"Jaken."

"Yes milord?" Jaken asked inquisitively.

"Stay with Rin. You and Ah-Un protect her." Sesshomaru commanded.

Bowing humbly, Jaden nodded and moved closer to the twin headed dragon. Noting this, Sesshomaru moved forward calmly with light steps towards the figure. Stopping a few feet back from the figure, he stoically said "You're in the way. Move."

"My apologies Lord Sesshomaru." a smooth voice said from the hood. "I did not mean to stand in your way, but I have been searching for you."

"Searching for this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Removing his hood, the figure revealed his face to be that of a man who had short white hair and a small grin on his face with squinted eyes. "Yes Lord Sesshomaru. I've come a great distance in search of you." the man replied.

Sniffing the air, Sesshomaru emotionlessly said "You reek of the scent of the mages that intruded upon my father's lands years ago. Who are you?"

"Ah, so you remember that scent? Well, it has been a very long time since I was here." the man replied. "My name is Ichimaru, and I am one of The Thirteen, or mages as you called us. Tell me, does my scent really smell that bad? I know I smell of snake, but did you have to insult me that badly?"

"You are a snake demon, that much is for certain." Sesshomaru dryly iterated. "Why do you intrude upon this Sesshomaru's lands snake mage?"

Smiling even wider, Ichimaru replied "I only came to claim something of mine, that is all."

"Claim something?" Sesshomaru questioned. "Nothing in the Western Lands belongs to you."

"But you are mistaken." Ichimaru corrected. "You see, Naraku left me one thing, and you have kept it safe for me. I have merely come to collect it."

Noting Ichimaru was glancing back at his group, realization dawned on Sesshomaru to who he was looking at. Iya's words came ringing through his head, and he softly growled at the thought of the snake mage touching Rin.

Tightly, he said "You have nothing here. Leave now."

"I cannot till I've collected what I have come after." Ichimaru retorted.

Grasping the hilt of the top sword in his belt, Sesshomaru once more said "Leave now."

Grabbing hold of his own sword's hilt, Ichimaru smoothly replied "I'm afraid I can't."

With blinding speed, Sesshomaru drew his sword and rushed forward. Much to Sesshomaru's surprise, Ichimaru had seen his move and drew his own sword at lightning quick speed and managed to parry.

"I see you have a bit of speed."

Smiling even more, Ichimaru retorted "As do you. That was quite quick, and might have effectively killed off any other demon."

Irked on by the words, Sesshomaru began pushing more strength into his sword, slinging Ichimaru backwards. Leaping backwards, Ichimaru grin widened.

"Very impressive Lord Sesshomaru, but it does not surprise me that you have this much immense strength. No, your power is far greater than any other demon due that you're a Demon Lord. Since that is the case here, I must use my true power."

Pointing his sword at Sesshomaru, Ichimaru smiled wider and calmly said "Pierce Shinsō!"

Instantly, the sword glowed brightly and lengthened directly to where Sesshomaru stood. At the last moment, Sesshomaru dodged the lengthening sword. Staring at the sword, Sesshomaru frowned lightly.

"What a shame, I missed you. You are a quick one." Ichimaru remarked.

Irked once more, Sesshomaru leapt forward towards Ichimaru, making him pull back. Turning and running, Ichimaru leapt into the tops of the trees and began running away.

"COWARD!" Sesshomaru growled out. Following, he leapt into the trees, leaving Jaken, Ah-Un, and Rin alone.

"I hope Lord Sesshomaru will be alright…" Rin murmured.

Turning to glare at Rin, Jaken began squawking "Of course Lord Sesshomaru will be alright! He's Lord Sesshomaru!"

"I know that Master Jaken." Rin sweetly replied with a smile. Frowning a bit, she added "But I don't know about that demon that attacked him. He seemed to want something of Lord Sesshomaru's."

"That I did little girl." the same voice of Ichimaru called out.

Neither Jaken nor Ah-Un had time to prepare themselves as suddenly blasts of red energy struck both hard. The blast knocked Rin off of Ah-Un, sending the dragon crashing to the ground.

Stumbling, Rin slowly got up to see Ichimaru standing before her with his same grin. "But, but Lord Sesshomaru and you just left!" she exclaimed.

"Very true, me and Lord Sesshomaru each left, but that wasn't all of me. You see, what he is chasing right now is my snake skin. I can cast a spell on it, enabling it to appear as I do. I'm sure Sesshomaru shall figure it out sooner or later, but by then, I'll have claimed my prize." Ichimaru explained.

"Prize?" Rin nervously asked.

In a flash, Ichimaru was in front of her, holding a hand out to her chest. "Yes, you my dear are my prize." he commented with a small chuckle.

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Continuing to get further and further away from where he left his group, Sesshomaru leapt hard, attempting to catch Ichimaru. Letting out a rapid burst of speed, Sesshomaru closed the gap and leapt in front of Ichimaru, effectively cutting off his escape route.

"My, my, you are a fast one." Ichimaru commented.

Holding his sword out in front of him, Sesshomaru glared at Ichimaru. Suddenly, he eyes spotted one of the mage's hands holding his sword looked to be coated in some kind of patterned cloth. "_What is that? Skin? No, that is not normal skin... It's snake skin!_"

"What are you?" Sesshomaru harshly barked out.

Chuckling, Ichimaru noted that Sesshomaru was staring at his hand. "Well, well, I didn't anticipate that you'd catch that. I suppose that is my fault though. In my haste to distract you, I must have missed a place."

"Distract me?" Sesshomaru questioned. Suddenly, it dawned on him what Ichimaru was distracting him from.

Pointing his sword at Ichimaru, swept his sword downwards fast, sending out a claw like series of blue energy. The energy cut through Ichimaru quickly, leaving nothing behind but a few tatters of snake skin.

Turning, Sesshomaru immediately went rushing back towards his vassals.

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"There you are, ready to go." Ichimaru smartly said while standing up from his stooped position. Before him lay a nude young woman who was unconscious with long black hair. Nearby, an orange and yellow kimono lay ripped to shreds.

Smiling, Ichimaru stared down at the serene face of the woman and said "Now my dear, you are mine. We should go."

Before he could make a move, Sesshomaru appeared behind him. Sensing Sesshomaru's presence, Ichimaru softly smiled and lightly sighed. "I see my clone didn't hold you up long enough."

"You will die for your insolence, and for endangering my ward!" Sesshomaru snarled.

Turning to face Sesshomaru, Ichimaru sighed again. With a small grin, he calmly said "I suppose for now I shall retreat. Fighting you would take too much effort, and besides, soon enough, my prize will be mine."

Eyes turning blood red, Sesshomaru lunged forward with a feral growl. Before he could slash Ichimaru, the snake demon leapt out of the way and mumbled a soft chant while making runic motions with his hands. Instantly, a blue portal came to life beside of him. Without hesitation, Ichimaru entered, leaving Sesshomaru in the wake.

The portal quickly vanished just as Sesshomaru came around and swung his sword at where the mage once stood. In a loud roar, he yelled out "COWARD, COME BACK!"

After a moment, Sesshomaru slowly regained his emotionless mask and his eyes returned to their amber color. Turning about, he glanced back at the young woman laying on the ground and frowned. Noting the nearby torn up orange and yellow checkered kimono and green sash, his eyes widened a fraction. Breathing in the scents around the area, his nose confirmed his fear.

"Rin…" he mumbled. Pulling his fur boa off, he wrapped it around the young woman to keep her body covered and warm.

Glancing over to see the twin headed dragon was slowly waking up, he walked over to Jaken and gently nudged him with his foot. Jaken slowly responded and looked up at Sesshomaru with wide eyes.

"My Lord!" he quickly said and groveled at his feet.

"Jaken, take Ah-Un and go to the Western Stronghold." Sesshomaru calmly commanded.

Nodding, Jaden replied "Yes my Lord. But what of Rin, my Lord?"

Earning a glare from his Lord, Jaken quickly scrambled to his feet and grabbed the twin headed dragon's reins and leapt up onto the dragon. Giving a tug on the reins, Jaken commanded the dragon to launch into the air, sending himself and Ah-Un away.

Looking back at the young woman wrapped up in his white fur boa, Sesshomaru walked to her and squatted. Inhaling her scent once more, Sesshomaru's eyes softened as he whispered "Rin…"

Picking the young woman up bridal style, Sesshomaru called forth his demonic powers, transforming himself and the woman into an orb of white energy. With incredible speed, the orb raced off in the opposite direction of Jaken and Ah-Un.

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Watching Lilly continue to practice her attack patterns he had taught her, Iya sighed in content while slowly searching for Shippou. After teaching Lilly her moves, Shippou had asked Iya to play hide and seek with him. Never one to disappoint, Iya decided to play, although he already knew Shippou's position before he began looking thanks to his keen senses.

"Now, where could Shippou be?" he mused aloud.

Hearing a light rustling in the bushes near him, Iya glanced the other way and pretended to look for his target, although he knew exactly where he was. His ears swiveled towards another sound of an approaching figure from the woods, but by the sound of the person's footsteps and the person's scent, Iya quickly identified the person as Kagome.

Suddenly, Shippou burst out of the bushes and made a break for the tree that was marked off to be the safe point. With only three feet away, he made a dive for the tree, but was instantly caught by Iya, who held the kit by the back of his vest.

"Nice try Shippou." Iya commented with a smile.

Pouting, Shippou muttered "No fair, you cheated."

"How so?" Iya challenged.

Pointing at Iya's ears and then his nose, Shippou replied "Your senses are far sharper than mine, so you knew where I was."

Chuckling, Iya nodded in reply. "True, they are much sharper, but no one said I couldn't use them."

Reaching up, he instantly began tickling Shippou, making the kit break out in fits of laughter. Kagome finally appeared out of the woods and chuckled at the two while Lilly continued to try and concentrate.

"There you two are. Shippou, are you bothering Iya?" Kagome questioned.

Smiling at Kagome, Iya shook his head, saying "Not at all. We were just playing."

Sitting Shippou down, Iya winked at Shippou. "You did well at trying to hide Shippou. Keep practicing."

"Ok!" Shippou retorted and scampered off in the direction Kagome had come from.

Softly smiling, Kagome sat down on a nearby felled log. Warmly, she said "You're really good with kids Iya."

Softly blushing at the comment, Iya replied "Actually, Shippou is the only kid I've been around for a long time. Inuyasha was the only other one I ever got to spend any time with also."

"Maybe you're just a big kid at heart." Kagome remarked.

"Perhaps." Iya slyly commented while taking a seat on the ground.

Silence enveloped the two while Lilly continued to practice. Breaking the silence, Iya finally asked "Kagome, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, I guess. What would you like to ask me?" she replied.

Softly sighing, Iya glanced up at the sky for a moment before returning his gaze to Kagome. Calmly, he asked "Are you already engaged or being courted by Inuyasha?"

Kagome instantly fell backwards off of the log onto the ground. Seeing this, Iya stood and rushed to check on her, but noted she was alright other than her bright red face. Her scent told him of great embarrassment, making him lightly regret asking. In the background, he heard Lilly stop and seemingly stand still for a few moments before finally she huffed loudly and began her exercise once more.

Regaining her composure, Kagome sat back up on the log and slowly said with a stutter "I… I don't… don't know what… what you're talking about."

Lightly chuckling, Iya fell back down to the ground and replied "Well, the two of you seem so close, and you can see it in both of your eyes that you each care for one another. Your scent is still of a virgin, so I thought perhaps maybe the two of you were courting or engaged."

Still blushing furiously, Kagome rapidly shook her head in a no fashion. Smiling at this, Iya calmly said "I see, well then, may I ask another question?"

"Please, just not one that embarrassing…" Kagome muttered.

Chuckling, Iya replied "I shall try. This one is very serious. Do you love my brother?"

Staring at Iya in surprise, Kagome immediately turned away to look at the ground. Softly smiling, Iya remarked "I'll take that as a yes."

Deeply sighing, Kagome miserably muttered "Too bad it's not a shared feeling."

Frowning, Iya asked "What do you mean?"

"Inuyasha loves Kikyo still, even though she's dead and gone from the world now." she replied with dejection.

"I think you're wrong." Iya commented. "When I see him looking at you, it's in his eyes, just like it's in yours. He loves you Kagome; that much I'm sure of."

"If he does, why doesn't he say anything?" she asked with a look of sadness.

Sighing lightly, Iya glanced up at the sky once more and began saying "He's had a hard life Kagome. He's probably afraid he's not good enough for you, or that you'll reject him. Like you, he's afraid of the unknown."

Glancing back down at Kagome, Iya softly smiled and added "But the unknown is not always scary. Sometimes it's better to go in, even if there is something possibly bad waiting on you. Kagome, have you talked to him about your feelings towards him?"

Darkly chuckling, she shook her head no. "I see. Well then, maybe you need to make the first move." Iya commented.

Looking at him in surprise, her cheeks heated up and she looked away once more. "I don't think I could." she muttered.

"You'll never know till you try. If you truly wish to be with him, you should talk to him about your feelings." Iya encouraged.

Pondering on Iya's words, she mumbled "I'll think about it. Thank you."

Softly smiling, Iya stood and replied "You're welcome. Now then, I need to show Lilly something else. Do you mind staying with her after I show her? I need to check on something."

"Sure." Kagome cheerfully replied.

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Sitting in his usual branch in the Sacred Tree, Inuyasha rolled the pink colored jewel around in his hand once more. Staring at it, he pondered what to do with it.

"Still trying to think of a wish?" a voice sounded off, breaking Inuyasha's concentration.

Landing on the same branch as his half brother, Iya softly smiled and awaited an answer. Growing tired of Iya's smile, Inuyasha growled out "Feh, what's it matter to you?"

"I care about you brother, whether you think I do or not." Iya kindly commented. "By the way, you might want to do a better job when pulling the weeds out at your mother's grave next time."

Glaring at Iya, Inuyasha snarled "Why were you at my mother's grave!?"

"Calm down." Iya remarked. Taking a seat on the limb, he calmly replied "I simply went to pay my respects since I hadn't had a chance before. I noted it had been a while since anyone had been by, which I guessed was due that you was fighting Naraku."

Deeply sighing, Inuyasha turned his head away, muttering "Yeah, well, it was hard to get away…"

"Inuyasha, what do you think about Kagome?" Iya asked seemingly randomly.

Hearing the question, Inuyasha nearly fell out of the tree, but regained his balance. Glaring at Iya, he gruffly said "She's a tough human."

"That all?" Iya pressed.

"Feh, she's a very kind person, who doesn't know when to give up on someone." Softening, he added "She's got a very kind heart, and cares deeply for her friends. She'd do anything for any of them."

Softly smiling, he continued on, saying "She's been more than willing to die for all of us, and has made sacrifices beyond what I would ever have considered."

"I thought so. She seems so very kind." Iya commented. "She smells of vanilla and cherry blossoms, giving her a very nice scent, if not unique."

Nodding with a smile on his face, Iya noted Inuyasha seemed to be in a dreamy state now. Smirking with mischief, Iya added "I wonder if she'd like to be my mate…"

Snapping out of his daze, Inuyasha was quick to his feet and stuffed the Sacred Jewel into his kimono. "Where the hell did that come from!?"

"What?" Iya teased. "I'm just speaking the truth. Kagome would make anyone a wonderful mate. She's not only strong, but compassionate, caring, and I'm sure she would make an excellent lover."

Growling loudly, Inuyasha snarled "LIKE HELL SHE'D MATE WITH YOU!"

Smirking, Iya slyly said "No one else seeks to make her their mate. Why wouldn't she possibly accept me?"

"SHE WOULDN'T, THAT'S WHY!" Inuyasha snapped.

"She has no reason to. No one else is interested in her, and no one else is courting her or engaged to her, hence she may accept my offer." Iya coolly replied.

Growling loudly, Inuyasha yelled "SHE HAS NO REASON TO BE WITH SOMEONE LIKE YOU!"

"Oh? She said I was good with children. Maybe that was a hint that she'd like to have some pups with me."

Gnashing his teeth, Inuyasha angrily spat "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"

"Why? No one else has laid claims to her."

"I HAVE, SO STAY AWAY!"

Upon saying those words, Inuyasha's cheeks instantly went red with embarrassment and he immediately turned away from Iya and stuffed his hands within his kimono sleeves.

Smirking at getting the answer he wanted from Inuyasha, Iya held up his hands in a shrugging motion. Nonchalantly, he turned away and began moving towards the end of the branch and said "Well then, you'd better make mention of it to her before I make my claim."

Inuyasha instantly tensed upon hearing these words. Clenching his fists tightly till his claws drew blood, he ground his teeth while he lightly trembled.

Noting Inuyasha's state, Iya added "See you around brother."

Leaping from the branch to the ground, Iya glanced up and saw Inuyasha leap out of the tree at incredible speed in the direction of Kagome. Softly chuckling while Inuyasha vanished from sight, Iya mumbled "Worked like a charm."


	9. Chapter 9: Feelings and Roses

**Hey there everyone! Well, the past weekend wasn't too bad. I didn't do too much, other than work on this story off and on. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet weekend for the most part.**

**Wow, I got four reviews since last time! That's great! Thank you everyone who sent them, plus I got a few more adds on alerts and favorite story. I'm glad to see this story is starting to catch on.**

**At any rate, I guess I'll go ahead and do the reviews!**

**amori kuwabara: Thanks. I'm glad you really like my story. I shall continue to update as long as I can. Like I told everyone before, for now, I'm doing alternating weeks on how many chapters I post. This week is a two chapter week, next a one, and then it goes back to two. It's just so I don't run out of chapters while I'm still writing. Thanks again for the review and for the adds to your fav author and stories.**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: I'm glad you really like this story thus far. Heh, Iya is one of my better characters I think. For the most part, he is a mixture of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but he's his own self too, which is important. Lol, yeah, my mate (wife) was sad that I made Kurama and Kenshin bad guys too. Yep, Inuyasha is thinking of telling Kagome his true feelings, but we'll see how that goes. LOL! Yes, you told me you really like my story. Thank you so much for your review and the add to your favs!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: I'm glad you liked that chapter, hehe. Heh, Iya and Miroku ganging up on Inuyasha to annoy him to death would be really fun, lol. Thanks for the review as always.**

**jaimed1968: So true, it is one way of bugging Inuyasha. Heh, want to make him mad, just say you're planning to mate with Kagome, hehe. True, Koga got to him easily by making such claims. Yes, poor Rin was treated like a piece of meat by Ichimaru. Lol, I hadn't pondered how roasted snake demon would taste. Perhaps chicken. Very true, Sesshomaru is not one to sit around and take things like this for long. The question is, where is he headed? Yes, Iya is very nice to Inuyasha, and that reason is due that he feels he should have been there. Iya had even mentioned back in chapter 7 that he had wanted to stay with Izayoi and Inuyasha, only to be forced back to his task by Izayoi. True, Inuyasha does need some kind of positive family influence, which Iya hopes to be. Koga… well, that's kind of complicated really. Remember, he left in the manga to return to his clan. As for if he makes a show in this story, well, we'll see, hehe. I know, that was vague, if not downright uninformative. That's just the way I am, sometimes, lol. I'm glad you still like the story, and I hope you continue to. Thanks for the review.**

**Again, thank you everyone for your reviews. They mean a lot to me, seeing how I've been a bit skeptical on how this story maybe doing. Lol, just dumb thoughts going through my head, like always, hehe. But I'm really happy that so far everyone is taking a liking to this story. And if anyone has any questions on something I wrote in here, feel free to ask me. I don't mind answering questions, and will try to so long as they don't ruin the plot. I'll just be vague like always if it's those kind of questions, lol. But for now, thanks everyone, and I hope to see you all next time in the reviews!**

**Chapter 9**

Running at top speed, Inuyasha quickly caught Kagome's scent and lowly growled to himself. "_Damn that Iya, I won't let him take Kagome! I love her, and won't let him steal her away!_"

Continuing to run, he realized what he had just said in his mind, and it suddenly sunk in that his feelings for Kagome were very real, no matter how much he had hid them. "_I... I never could admit it to myself, but I just did. I really love her... But can I tell her, or even prove it to her? What if she rejects me like Kikyo?_"

On that thought, Iya's words suddenly rang in his ears once more. "_Well then, you'd better make mention of it to her before I make my claim._"

Shaking his head roughly, Inuyasha steeled his resolve and pushed forward towards where Kagome was. "_Kagome views me differently than Kikyo did. Kikyo wanted me to change into a human so I could marry her and release her from her duties. Kagome, she's never once asked me to change._"

The words Kagome had expressed to him once when he was transforming into his full demon state at Kaguya's castle suddenly rung throughout his mind. "_Inuyasha, I love you, I love you as a half demon._"

"_All this time, I've known her answer... And yet, I was too much of a coward to give her mine._"

Hardening his expression, Inuyasha steeled his resolve once more and said "_I owe Kagome an answer. No more running, no more hiding!_"

Finally coming into sight of a small clearing in the middle of the woods, Inuyasha leapt out to find the neko half demon, Lilly, practicing her fighting moves while Kagome sat and watched. A gentle breeze sent Kagome's hair and clothing swaying, instantly taking Inuyasha's breath away.

Regaining his composure, Inuyasha slowed himself and walked out quietly into the clearing. At a slow pace, he steered himself in Kagome's direction. Looking up inquisitively at Inuyasha, she smiled and warmly said "Hi Inuyasha."

"Kagome, can I speak to you alone?" he asked a touch gruffly.

Shrugging, she stood and brushed the dust off of her skirt and straightened it. "Sure."

She offered a hand to Inuyasha, who shyly took it in his clawed hand. Hand in hand, the pair walked deeper into the woods while Lilly softly smiled at the sight. The very sight of the two walking off made her heart flutter lightly at the thought of finding love one day.

"Good." Iya mumbled from behind Lilly, completely shocking her and making her jump lightly. She instantly turned to find him with his arms crossed and a smirk.

"Iya, you scared me half to death!" she lowly growled.

Lightly chuckling, Iya apologetically said "I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure those two got some alone time."

"Oh, that was sweet of you." Lilly kindly commented. Softly, she sighed as if she was day dreaming.

Noting she was day dreaming, Iya frowned and decided to ask something that he had thought of while talking with Inuyasha. "Lilly?"

"Yes?" she softly responded.

"Did you have a fiancé? Or was someone courting you before you transformed?" Iya asked as gently as possible.

Looking down, Lilly softly sighed and shook her head no. "No, not yet, but my father was preparing to look for a suitable husband for me. Why do you ask?"

"It's just I didn't know if you did or not. I know me and Ichigo kind of dragged you away without asking or anything."

Glancing up at the sky, Lilly softly smiled and her eyes lightly shimmered while she said "I know, but I'm thankful that you rescued me Iya. If not for you, I'd have died in the village."

"I'm just glad you're alright." Iya calmly said and placed a kind hand on her shoulder. She instantly looked back down at his face to see a soft smile on it.

Returning the smile, Lilly backed away and asked "Shall we continue the lesson?"

"Of course." Iya replied while moving back to show some new offensive moves.

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Leading Kagome by the hand deeper into the forest to a place that he liked, Inuyasha listened and sniffed the air, making sure nothing within the area would disturb them. Finding nothing, he relaxed a bit and noticed a nearby felled log that the pair could sit on.

Noting Inuyasha's movement towards the log, Kagome followed and sat down on it along with him. Looking at his face, Kagome found he couldn't look her in the eye. Frowning at this, she softly asked "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Gulping lightly, Inuyasha sat with his mind lost in thought on how to explain himself properly to her. "_This seemed like such a good idea earlier, but now I don't know... Maybe I should just take her back and say it was nothing._"

That thought brought about a terrible feeling in his mind, and he growled within his mind at it. "_NO! I said I would tell her my answer, and DAMN IT, I will!_"

Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Kagome, who was a bit shocked that he was looking into her face. Staring into her chocolate orbs, gold met brown and Inuyasha felt as if he was getting lost in them.

"_She's so beautiful. Does she really want to be with a half breed like myself?_"

Sighing inwardly, he declared "_Yes, she does. She's already told me that. She told me she wanted to stay with me as long as I'd let her. She cares about me, whether I'm human, half demon, or full demon._"

Seeing he was struggling, Kagome inwardly sighed. "_Inuyasha, I so badly want to tell you how much I need you, how much I want to be with you, and how badly I love you, but I'm so afraid you'll reject me. Are you truly over Kikyo? Can you truly love me and me alone without seeing the Kikyo within me?_"

Noting the torment that Kagome's eyes revealed, Inuyasha sighed a bit and looked away. "_Damn it, this is stupid! I need to just say it, but I can't! I fell like such a fucking coward! But I need to say something. Maybe if I tell her my decision first, it will go easier._"

After a moment, he finally said "Kagome, I made my decision about the Sacred Jewel."

"Oh? What is it Inuyasha?" she half heartedly asked, thinking about his wish he had always said he wanted.

Taking a deep breath, he calmly replied "I have no desire to become a full demon anymore. If I did become one, I'd lose everyone and everything I care about. I don't want to lose my friends."

"_I don't want to lose you._" he added in his mind.

Reaching into his kimono, Inuyasha pulled out the pink jewel and gently placed it back into Kagome's hand, saying "This is yours. I should have gave it to you to start with."

Staring at her hand, Kagome softly smiled and closed her hand around the jewel and warmly said "Thank you Inuyasha. I'm glad you decided not to be a full demon."

Softly smiling back at Kagome, Inuyasha gathered up his courage and shakily said "Kagome, I have something else I want to tell you."

Cocking her head to the side, Kagome softly asked "Something else?"

"Yes, it's something I should have told you long ago." Inuyasha answered. Taking a deep breath, he stared into her eyes, seemingly looking at her very soul.

"Kagome, you were there for me when no one else believed in me or trusted me. You gave me trust when no one else had a reason to give me any. Over time, you helped open me up, and with your help, I made all kinds of new friends. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am."

Taking another deep breath, Inuyasha stared into the depths of her eyes once more and softly smiled. "Kagome, you told me how you felt about me long ago, and here is how I feel. Kagome, I'm in…"

Stopping in mid-sentence, Inuyasha's ears twitched and swiveled when he heard a sound approaching. Taking in the scent, he realized it was one he hadn't smelled before, one of roses. Lightly growling, he glanced up and saw a man wearing a black robe with a hood pulled up approaching the pair.

Standing quickly, Inuyasha moved protectively in front of Kagome and snarled out "Who the hell are you?"

Softly walking forward still, the figure stopped with ten feet between them. Raising his hands, the figure removed his hood, revealing a young man with emerald green eyes, long red hair that reached his lower back, and pointed ears.

"Greetings and salutations. I believe you two are Inuyasha and Kagome, are you not?" he kindly asked.

With Kagome now standing behind him, Inuyasha angrily snapped out "Get the hell out of here! Can't you see you're ruining the, the… how was it you put it Kagome, the 'moment?'"

Hearing Kagome trying to stifle a chuckle, Inuyasha returned his glare towards the young man in front of him. "Well, can't you take a hint? Do I have to spell it out for you?" he snarled.

Softly smirking, the young man replied "I can see that the two of you were rather busy talking, but I think it is time I made my appearance. After all, if I'm to take what is mine, I must do so and be on my way."

"What is yours?" Inuyasha questioned while grasping the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

Nodding in reply, the young man said "Yes, what is mine. Forgive me for not introducing myself properly. I am Mage Kurama."

Gasping from behind Inuyasha's back, Kagome's eyes widened with fear. Reaching for her bow, she realized she had left them behind at Kaede's hut once again, making her curse softly to herself.

"Don't worry Kagome, I'll protect you." Inuyasha whispered lowly.

Grunting lightly, Kurama called out "I'd be more worried about yourself than the girl. She won't be harmed, but you might if you stand in my path. Step aside, and I'll take her with me and leave."

Growling loudly, Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga from it's sheath, triggering it's transformation instantly into it's powerful halberd form. "No way in the seven hells will I let you harm Kagome! I swore to protect her with my life, and I won't back down from some mage! If you want to fight, then bring it on, but I'll warn you now, it's not going to be pretty!"

Smirking, Kurama reached behind his ear and plucked something from it. Holding it in his hand, green energy surrounded it momentarily and it suddenly transformed into a red rose. After a moment, the rose glowed with more green energy and transformed into a whip with many spikes on it.

"What the hell is that thing?" Inuyasha questioned while keeping an eye on Kurama.

"This would be my Rose Whip. I created it by taking a single rose and changing it into a weapon. Impressed?" Kurama curtly asked.

Bringing Tetsusaiga up at an angle, Inuyasha rushed forward with incredible speed, yelling "Shut the hell up and die you bastard!"

Swinging hard, Inuyasha attempted to cut Kurama in half, who only dodged and landed off to the side. Like poetry in motion, Kurama retaliated by flinging his whip at Inuyasha, scoring a direct hit on his right hip. The red kimono covering Inuyasha's hips was easily torn away to reveal tender flesh, which was easily cut into, sending out a small spray of blood.

Immediately, Inuyasha retreated a short distance and examined the wound. Satisfied it wouldn't slow him down, he glared at Kurama and yelled "You'll pay for that!"

Bringing his sword up above his head, he slammed it hard towards the ground, crying out "WIND SCAR!"

Upon striking the ground, the sword shot out a claw like white energy straight at Kurama, who only stood his ground and smirked. Closing his eyes for a moment, he reopened them with coldness in them. Instantly, a glowing red barrier composed of rose petals formed around him, blocking the attack and seemingly pulling it off the ground to circle the barrier.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Inuyasha cursed in shock.

His question was quickly answered when Kurama coldly remarked "I believe this is yours. I shall return it."

Without warning, the same claw like white energy that Inuyasha had fired at Kurama came racing back off the barrier straight at Inuyasha at a faster speed than it had been fired with red energy seemingly infused into it. Inuyasha only stood in shock as the blast plowed right into him head on before he could do anything. The claw like energy struck him hard, sending blood spraying everywhere and ripping through his red kimono like a hot knife cutting through butter.

The blast soon subsided, throwing Inuyasha backwards five feet and landing on the ground with blood squirting out. His face held complete shock and exhaustion, and his eyes seemed to dull a bit.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed out while running to her.

Before she could reach him, Kurama pointed at both her and Inuyasha with his free hand and softly said "Restrain."

Up from the ground instantly, tree roots began wrapping around Inuyasha's wrists, ankles, and neck. The roots fully restrained him and pulled him tightly to the ground. Meanwhile, roots emerged in front of Kagome and similarly grabbed her writs and ankles and jerked her to the ground.

Wriggling fiercely, she growled out "Let me go!"

"Kagome…" Inuyasha mumbled while trying to struggle against the roots, but found it difficult due to his wounds.

Smirking at the fallen Inuyasha, Kurama's whip shrank back down to a rose and he placed it up in his hair. Walking towards Kagome, he softly smiled. "Don't struggle, you'll only hurt yourself, and I don't wish for you to do that." he calmly said with a slight hint of compassion in his voice.

Hearing that, Kagome only struggled even more fiercely, making Kurama sigh. "You are a stubborn one." he muttered. Smirking, he added "But that's what makes it all that much more fun I suppose."

Continuing to walk slowly towards Kagome, Kurama examined her head to toe. "You are a beautiful one. I must compliment you on keeping yourself in peek physical condition. I suppose that half demon wished to rut with you, but he doesn't deserve to spoil your perfection. You are perfection, and shall be with perfection, which is what I am."

About to respond, Kagome didn't get a chance when suddenly a shower of icicles came raining in straight at Kurama. Quickly, Kurama leapt backwards, easily avoiding the small ice storm. Glancing up, he frowned at the sight of Iya and Lilly rushing to Kagome's side.

Reaching Kagome, Iya glanced over his shoulder and roughly asked "Kagome, are you alright?"

"Yes, I am, but he hurt Inuyasha pretty badly. He reflected the Wind Scar back at him." she informed.

Lightly growling while keeping his eyes trained on Kurama, Iya softly said "Lilly, free Kagome and get her out of here. I'll handle this."

"Right." Lilly quickly responded with a head nod and squatted down to help free Kagome.

Glaring at Kurama, Iya grabbed the hilt of Ketsaiga and drew it, instantly transforming it into it's true form. "Good evening Kurama. I must say, I'm surprised you mages are making your move now." Iya curtly said.

Smirking, Kurama quietly chuckled. "I see you've followed us once again pup. Don't you think it's time to leave us be?"

"Your other friends asked me the same thing right before they died." Iya smartly remarked.

Chuckling, Kurama calmly replied "They were weak though. Unlike them, I am not a weak demon. You yourself know that."

"Yes, I've heard how strong you are. You're the mage who draws his power from nature. You're capable of using trees, flowers, or any plant life to your advantage." Iya calmly explained.

"Very good Iya, I see you've studied up on me." Kurama smoothly said.

Smirking, Iya retorted "I had to if I ever wanted to defeat the seven of you. But you see, against me, you're at a disadvantage."

Holding his sword up a little bit, Iya watched as the sword pulsated. After a moment, it was covered in a thick ice with steam rolling off of it.

"You see, winter has come early, and your little garden is useless against my Ketsaiga now." Iya confidently remarked.

"We shall see." Kurama calmly replied.

Swinging his sword out, Iya cried out "Shard Storm!"

Thousands of little daggers made of ice instantly formed on the ice blade just as it swung around. The daggers were then thrown straight at Kurama, who simply leapt out of the way before they could pierce him.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Iya growled out and ran to meet Kurama when he landed.

Landing, Kurama spun around and pulled his rose from his ear. Pushing a small amount of green energy into it, it instantly transformed back into it's whip like form. He instantly flung it towards Iya, who countered by striking it with his sword, sending ice up the whip and shattering it.

"I already told you, your little garden tricks can't affect me." Iya remarked.

Smugly chuckling, Kurama replied "So you did, but you fell into my trap."

Frowning, Iya was about to ask when suddenly, up from the ground, several spiked vines sprung up and wrapped thickly around Iya's legs, arms, and mid-section. They tightly squeezed into Iya, making blood instantly begin seeping from his clothes.

Struggling, Iya tried hard to move his sword, but the vines squeezed even tighter and tore deeper into his flesh. "Damn you!" he angrily spat while trying to figure a way free.

"You shouldn't get so cocky with us Iya. It was your downfall. For now though, I have no time to play with you. My prize awaits me." Kurama calmly said while turning towards Kagome and Lilly.

Seeing Lilly was still hacking away at the roots with her claws, Iya screamed "Lilly, get Kagome out of here now!"

Looking up, Lilly gasped in shock to see Iya strung up in the vines. She quickly clawed the last root away and helped Kagome up. Turning, she prepared to run, but blocking her path was Kurama who scowled at her.

Pushing Kagome behind her, Lilly glared at the mage, but fear was behind her anger. "Get out of my way!" she half-heartedly snarled.

"You're Kenshin's prize I see." Kurama flatly said. "I don't wish to kill you, so step aside."

"NO!" Lilly snapped back quickly and raised her clawed hands.

"Damn it Lilly, take Kagome and run! You can't beat him!" Iya screamed at the top of his voice.

Lilly pushed Kagome backwards a bit and quickly threw a glance at her, yelling "RUN!"

Rushing forward, Lilly slashed at Kurama with her claws, but hit nothing but air. She once again tried, but Kurama simply sidestepped her once more.

"I advise you to stop now." Kurama coolly said. "Cease to heed me and you will be hurt."

Growling lowly, Lilly charged forward and slashed at Kurama once more, who simply dodged her again. Pulling a seed out from his hair, he poured green energy into it, transforming it into another red rose. It then transformed once more into a new whip like the previous one.

With elegance, he flung his whip at Lilly and sent it straight through her right shoulder, making her scream out in pain.

"Let that be a lesson to you that I'm not one to be trifled with. Stand down." Kurama calmly stated.

Glaring at him, Lilly yelped lightly when the whip retracted from her shoulder. Growling lowly, she charged forward once more, trying hard to swipe Kurama with her claws. Again, she missed and was rewarded with the whip wrapping around her body, trapping her. It immediately went taunt and cut into her flesh. Flinging Lilly away, Kurama coldly unwrapped the whip in mid-air and then struck her once more with it, impaling her by her stomach.

Falling to the ground, Lilly whimpered out in pain as blood instantly poured forth from her stomach wound, as did it from her numerous wounds from where the whip had wrapped around her.

"Stay down half breed." Kurama coldly said while walking towards a frightened Kagome. "You are mine, so don't move."

"NO!" Kagome remarked loudly. She turned and quickly tried to run, but Kurama pointed at the ground, sending roots out of it once more and wrapping around Kagome's wrists and feet. The roots immediately jerked her to the ground so that she laid on her back.

Turning his back to the others, Kurama hovered over Kagome and began chanting words she didn't understand. Immediately, her eyes began to become very heavy and she felt herself falling off to sleep.

"You bastard, let Kagome go!" Inuyasha growled out weakly.

Struggling against the vines once more, Iya attempted to free himself, but couldn't. "_The more I struggle, the more they cut into me. Damn, I underestimated him._"

Ignoring Inuyasha's plea and Iya's struggling, Kurama continued murmuring his chant. Finally finished, he smiled and stood up, saying "There we are. That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

Suddenly, the wind picked up wildly behind Kurama, who softly frowned. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the source of the wind was Lilly standing up once more, but she was different. A dark red aura flowed out from around her body with her hair floating in the air and her body pulsating. Her tail twitched and jerked lightly while she was lowly growling. Slowly, she revealed her face, showing that her eyes were now filled with red and her irises were yellow slits. Her fangs were poking out of her mouth, plus her claws were lengthening. On her face, jagged green demon markings ran down her cheeks while she let out a low feral growl.

"Stay away from her!" she coldly snarled while glaring at Kurama.

Staring in shock, Iya whispered "Lilly…"

Seeing her standing there, it dawned on Iya what was happening. "_She's transformed into her full demon state! This is bad! She won't be able to determine who is friend or foe now! Damn it, why now of all times!_" he cursed in his mind.

Turning to face Lilly, Kurama stayed focused on Lilly. "I see, so you've transformed. Amusing…" he calmly stated.

Grabbing hold of his whip from his shoulder, he shot it out at Lilly, who quickly and gracefully dodged it. She instantly ran straight for him, eyes blazing with the thought of killing in mind. Reaching him, she slashed out, but missed his body. Instead, she caught his robe, tearing a gash in it.

Examining his robe, Kurama sighed. "You damaged my robe. Impressive, but not enough to stop me."

Knowing that Kurama wouldn't show any mercy on Lilly, Iya struggled once more against the vines, only to feel them dig in deeper. Stopping, he tested his wrist that held Ketsaiga. Seeing he could turn the sword still, he maneuvered it to face back towards him. Gently, he lowered the blade till finally it touched the vines. The cold blade easily sent frost through the vines, shattering the ones on his arm first. With his arm free, Iya made quick work of the rest, freeing himself once more.

Seeing Iya was free, Kurama deeply sighed and said "I see that the odds have tilted away from my favor. For now, I shall take my leave, but next time, I will take my prize."

Smirking, he glanced at Iya and added "Besides, you will have your hands full with that crazed half breed."

Making a simple hand motion, he called forth a blue shimmering portal and stepped into it. As he did, Lilly ran forward and attempted to slash him, but missed as the portal shut. Letting out a feral howl, Lilly looked around and saw Iya staring at her.

"Lilly…" Iya softly said, trying hard to look non-threatening.

Glaring at Iya, Lilly snarled and darkly chuckled at him, saying "You look strong. Maybe we should fight."

"Lilly, you have to try and calm down." Iya calmly said. Sheathing Ketsaiga, he held his arms out in a surrender like stance and slowly walked towards her.

Staring at Iya, Lilly eyes slightly widened a fraction upon seeing him. Looking down at her hands, she asked aloud in a husky voice "What's happened to me?"

"Lilly, just calm down." Iya reiterated. Slowly, he continued his approach, which instantly made her slightly jump back a few feet.

"No, stay back! I don't know what I'll do if you keep coming closer!" she warned with a hiss.

Softly smiling, Iya shook his head and slowly inched his way towards Lilly still. "I know you Lilly. You won't hurt me. I know you won't. I trust you. Just stay calm."

With only a foot between them, Lilly's eyes slowly began to clear. The yellow slits widened to their normal size, and the coloring faded back to a green color. Her fangs slowly retracted, along with her claws. The red in her eyes was last to leave, slowly fading back into white. Finally calmed, she looked up at Iya with tears in her eyes and rushed to him, embracing him.

"I'm scared…" she mumbled while holding onto him for dear life.

Softly cooing to her, Iya patted her back and said "It's alright, you're back to normal now."

Releasing her, Iya calmly said "You're ok now."

"What happened to me?" she asked with a small sob.

"I'll explain later, but for now, we have to check on Kagome and Inuyasha. I'll check Inuyasha out, you take care of Kagome."

Nodding lightly, Lilly used her kimono's sleeve to wipe her eyes. Turning around, she walked over to Kagome's fallen form and ripped the roots off her body once more. Checking her for any wounds, Lilly noted there were none, but saw that Kagome was unconscious. 

Carefully, Iya clawed through the roots holding Inuyasha, who kept a trained eye towards Kagome's location. Finally freed, Inuyasha struggled to stand, but Iya placed a calming hand on him, making him lay back down.

Growling softly, Inuyasha gruffly said "Let me go. I have to check on Kagome…"

"You're going nowhere." Iya commanded. "Your wounds are bad enough, and I won't have you up and about making them worse. The Wind Scar did far more damage to your body than you think it did."

Quieting, Inuyasha mumbled "That mage, he did something to the Wind Scar. It wasn't the same."

Frowning while checking Inuyasha's wounds, Iya asked "What did he do?"

"He added power to it I think. He used some kind of barrier, similar to Naraku's. The Wind Scar got sucked up into the barrier and raced around it. Then it took on a red tint, like rose petals, and came rushing back towards me. All I could do was raise Tetsusaiga and block a little bit of the blast." Inuyasha explained.

Pausing for a moment, Iya finally said "I remember hearing something about Kurama using some kind of red barrier that looked like rose petals. Somehow or another, I heard that it would strengthen any attack that hit it and reflect it."

Gently, Iya opened Inuyasha's kimono and peeled open his inner kimono also. Finding the many wounds from the reflected Wind Scar, Iya pulled a rag and small jar of salve from his own kimono.

"Lay still while I clean your wounds." he softly commanded Inuyasha, who only grunted in return.

Noticing Inuyasha was staring in Kagome's direction, Iya softly sighed and calmly asked aloud "Lilly, how is Kagome?"

"She's unconscious is all from what I can tell. She's just resting now." Lilly informed.

Seeing Inuyasha relax a bit, Iya softly smiled and began treating Inuyasha's numerous wounds. "Next time don't get so cut up." Iya admonished.

"Feh, not like I was trying to." Inuyasha gruffly remarked with a soft grunt.

Lightly chuckling, Iya suddenly stopped rubbing salve and took in the scents around him. Swiveling his ears in different directions, Iya softly growled and set the salve down. Noticing Iya's change in attitude, Inuyasha followed the same procedure and instantly began growling lowly himself.

"Damn it, there's more…" he muttered lowly.

Nodding, Iya grunted out "It looks like it, and they're attacking the others."

Turning to Lilly, Iya called out "Lilly, take care of Inuyasha's wounds, if you please. The mages are attacking the others, and I have to help stop them."

Hesitantly nodding, Lilly half afraid asked "What if they attack us again?"

"They won't. They're after the others now. Just stay with Inuyasha and help fix him up." Iya commanded.

Standing up, Iya instantly took off running at top speed through the forest in the direction of the scent of the mages. Lowly growling to himself, he muttered "I hope I make it in time."


	10. Chapter 10: Pervs and Snakes

**Hey everyone! Well, not much new in my life. Still writing away at this fic, which has been put on hold temporarily till I finish some work on my other. Ack, I have so much work to do on both and in real life. It's just crazy, lol.**

**Thank you everyone for your reviews. I'm glad to see the three I got, so again, thanks to each of you. I'll go ahead and answer them right quick while I'm at it.**

**amori kuwabara: I'm glad you really like this story thus far. I will continue writing on it and updating it regularly, so no worries. Thanks again for your review!**

**jaimed1968: I'm glad you really liked this chapter. Yes, the drama of Inuyasha spilling out his feelings to Kagome was fun to write, hehe. So true about him getting cut up to protect Kagome, and that it's not the last time, lol. Why Iya thinks that Kurama won't come back is kind of simple. When Kenshin cast his spell on Lilly, the spell took effect, thus binding her to him, but it took a day for the spell to transform her and fully work out. In short, yes, Kurama finished his spell. Once the spell was begun, there is no way to stop it, so no, Kurama wasn't stopped in time to save Kagome. LOL! I'm glad to see you're excited to see what happens next in this chapter. Heh, glad you like my elusiveness on answers to Kouga. I'll say this much, there is a chance, but also not. Very vague, I know, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: (/Blushes\) Thanks, I suppose. I still think they're not the greatest, but I get complimented on it often. I suppose they're easier to me due that I have had a little bit of training and watched a lot of anime. That and I've written on my Yugioh fics for a few years, which has some battle scenes between monsters in it. I guess that helps, but like I said, I don't think they're that great, but that maybe just my opinion since I am my worst critic usually, lol. I'm glad you really liked the battle though, and that you were happy that Lilly technically saved the day. Heh, Kurama was smart enough to not fight a berserker full demon Lilly and freed Iya at the least. True, we need Kagome to start kicking butt in the magna's finale. LOL! I think we'd all be pleased if Kagome and Inuyasha finally started swapping spit in the manga. Thanks about the cute scene, and yes, you know something had to interrupt them as always. It never fails, whether it be Kagome's family (Sota that one time), the rest of the gang, or someone else, one way or another, they get interrupted. Yes, us writers, including you I'm sure, are annoying about doing things like that, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this review session. Next time I'll be back will be Wednesday, so till then, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 10**

Alongside the stream that flowed by the village, Sango and Miroku sat together, enjoying the view of the swaying trees next to the waterway. They sat side by side on the ground, with their hands intertwined.

Smiling at Sango, Miroku sweetly said "Sango, once we finish up with helping Iya, I was wondering something."

"What Miroku?" Sango calmly asked while looking out at the water.

Softly smiling at her while watching her hair slightly sway with the wind, Miroku placed his other hand over their joined hands, saying "I wondered if you would like to set a date for our wedding."

Instantly, Sango lightly blushed and looked down at the ground. Seeing this, Miroku hesitantly asked "Do you not want to set a date?"

"No, it's not that. It's just, I…"

Instantly, Sango stopped in mid-sentence when she felt something groping her butt. Growling loudly, she clenched her free hand into a fist and turned to glare at Miroku with the vein in her forehead popping out. She immediately opened her clenched hand and slapped him across the face, screaming "Damn you monk, can't you go one day without being perverted!?"

"It's the cursed hand." Miroku instantly replied.

"That hand has no curse left!" Sango venomously fired back with a glare that could kill.

"That had to hurt." a person said from behind the two, making both Sango and Miroku quickly turn to see two figures in black robes with hoods drawn up. One seemed smaller than the other and had two bulges on their chest.

Quickly standing and grabbing their nearby weapons, Miroku calmly asked "Who are you two?"

Pulling their hoods back simultaneously, the two figures revealed their faces. The first was a larger man with long white spiky hair, a strange bandanna that had a piece of metal on his forehead, black coal eyes, and twin red marks streaking down from his eyes. The other was revealed to be a beautiful woman with creamy skin, blond hair held up in two pony tails, golden eyes, and a diamond shaped demon marking on her forehead.

"Why, we're your new masters, come to collect you." the man with white hair nonchalantly stated.

Softly growling, Sango remarked "Then you two must be some of the mages Iya told us about."

"My, my, I see our little trouble maker informed you already. Figures he would." the woman with blond hair smartly replied.

"Just who are you two?" Miroku roughly asked while stepping in front of Sango protectively.

Chuckling, the white haired man pointed at Miroku, saying "My, he's a feisty one. I can see you'll have your hands full with him Tsunade."

Throwing a glare at the white haired man, Tsunade hissed back "Shut up Jiraiya!"

"So, Tsunade and Jiraiya is it?" Miroku questioned, drawing the attention of the two back at him and Sango.

Sneering, Jiraiya replied "Yeah, it is. What of it?"

"You two don't know who you're messing with." Sango countered with a fierce glare at the pair.

"Oh please, don't patronize us. The two of us are more than a match for two pathetic humans." Tsunade wistfully stated.

In a low whisper, Miroku said "Sango, make a break for it."

Turning to answer Miroku, Sango saw that it was too late as Miroku launched himself forward with his staff swinging wildly at Tsunade and Jiraiya. Both quickly retreated a few feet away and chuckled.

"How sweet, he's trying to save the girl. Too bad I'm not going to let her get away!" Jiraiya yelled out while leaping into the air over Miroku.

"Damn you, get back here!" Miroku cried out and prepared to leap after Jiraiya, but was cut off by Tsunade landing a solid punch into his gut, knocking him instantly to the ground with tremendous force. He coughed hard and spat up a small amount of blood upon the ground while writhing in pain.

"MIROKU!" Sango cried out in a distraught voice, but instantly noticed Jiraiya coming in to attack her.

Leaping backwards, she readied her large bone boomerang weapon and threw it at Jiraiya, crying out "Hiraikotsu!"

The weapon went flying at a rapid spinning speed at the downwards falling Jiraiya. He simply spun out of the way of the flying weapon, shocking Sango at his agility. The weapon soon returned just as he landed on the ground and came running after her.

"I see, you're already plenty strong." Jiraiya complimented. "I bet you'll be a wild one in bed with all that impressive strength."

"You pervert, I'm not getting anywhere near a bed with you!" Sango cried out after stepping back a little bit more.

Smirking, Jiraiya glanced back at Miroku, who was laying on the ground, panting heavily, and then back at Sango. "Why bother with a little pervert like that anyways?" he commented.

Growling, Sango hissed back "What are you if you're not a little pervert!?"

Grinning widely, Jiraiya held his hands up and wiggled his fingers like a spider would. Letting out a loud laugh, he said "I'm a big one."

"Oh, great…" Sango muttered. "That really makes all the difference."

Grinning great big once again, Jiraiya held his hands out and began inching towards Sango, who backed up a few steps once more. "You're mine whether you want to be or not." he calmly said while still approaching.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" she screamed while taking aim with her weapon. Heaving it at Jiraiya, she cried out "Hiraikotsu!"

Holding his left hand out in front of his body, Jiraiya balled up his right hand into a fist and began focusing his demonic aura into it. With full force, he launched his fist at the oncoming bone boomerang, striking it hard. The two impacted upon one another, sending out a small shockwave. After a moment, Jiraiya finally knocked the boomerang to the ground, where it lodged into the ground.

Staring in complete shock, Sango barely had time to counter Jiraiya as he swung hard at her with the same fist. The fist grazed her ribs, making her cry out in pain and fall to her knees. Instantly, Jiraiya was above her and clasped his hands then turned his palms towards her, speaking in some kind of language she had never heard before. She instantly felt her body becoming heavy with sleep and struggled against it, but after a moment, her eyes closed and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Glancing over at Sango's battle, Miroku saw that she was down and quickly tried to get up, only to find the pain from the punch that had been inflicted upon him by Tsunade was still there. Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he stood up and reached for his staff and clambered towards Sango, only to be blocked by Tsunade.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tsunade asked smoothly.

Growling loudly, Miroku swung his staff at her head. Tsunade easily caught the staff with her single index finger, stopping it an inch from her head. Putting as much strength as he could into the staff, Miroku softly gasped in shock to see Tsunade staying still and still holding the staff back with a single finger.

"Naughty, naughty my little monk. I'll have to punish you for such actions." she huskily said with lust dripping in her voice.

Retracting his staff, Miroku leapt backwards and glared at Tsunade. Glancing down towards Sango, he saw Jiraiya still standing above her. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" he screamed at Jiraiya, hoping to get his attention.

"You should be more interested in what I'm doing, not the perv." Tsunade admonished.

Miroku quickly glanced back to her to see she was right beside of him. She gently elbowed him in the gut, knocking the wind completely out of him and making him drop his staff and fall to one knee. Standing smugly in front of him, Tsunade opened her hands and pointed them at Miroku, saying "Relax, it'll be all over soon."

Chanting in a language he couldn't make out, Miroku suddenly felt his body getting heavier, along with his eyes. Slowly, his eyes closed and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Finishing her chant, Tsunade let out a soft sigh and stared at Miroku's serene face. "I'm sorry for playing rough, but we'll continue soon enough, I promise." she murmured while bending down and gently cupping his cheek.

Standing, she called out "Jiraiya, you done yet?"

Like Tsunade, he stood and turned towards her, saying "Yeah, just did. These two are a feisty pair, aren't they?"

"It's to be expected. After all, they helped bring about Naraku's downfall." Tsunade stated.

Picking Sango up and throwing her over his shoulder, Jiraiya walked up to Tsunade's position and laid Sango down on the ground by Miroku. "Hard to believe humans like this have that much power." he grunted indignantly.

"That's what makes them all that much more fun as slaves." Tsunade smugly replied.

Glancing down at the two figures, Jiraiya mumbled "We should go."

"Right."

"What's your hurry? This party is just getting started!" a voice excitedly called out.

Slowly turning, both Jiraiya and Tsunade looked to see Ichigo standing behind them with his sword drawn and a smirk on his face.

Turning to face him, both sneered at Ichigo, with Jiraiya smugly saying "Why if it isn't the little quarter demon who couldn't."

"Crack jokes now, but when I defeat the two of you, you'll be crying and begging for mercy." Ichigo boldly stated.

Laughing, Tsunade pointed at him and mockingly asked "You stop us? Really? That's a surprise since you couldn't stop Kenshin. I mean, you let that poor girl, what was it, Ruria, Ruckia…"

Growling deeply, Ichigo angrily spat "Don't you dare speak Rukia's name!"

"Ah yes, Rukia was her name." Tsunade smugly said. "It's so hard to remember the names of the slaves that were killed by their supposed lovers or mates."

The sword in Ichigo's hand instantly transformed into it's cleaver blade form with the white cloth flowing in the wind upon Tsunade finishing her sentence. A blue demonic aura instantly began flowing out of the blade, along with Ichigo's body while he softly growled.

"You'll pay for that comment. When I kill you, you'll wish you never had said a word to me ever." Ichigo threatened.

"Heh, what makes you think you can kill us?" Jiraiya bragged. "I mean, you couldn't kill Kenshin, so why think it'll be different with us?"

Confidently smirking, Ichigo pointed his sword at the pair, saying "I've gotten stronger since I last fought Kenshin. I think you'll be surprised."

"Doubtful." Tsunade smugly commented.

Racing forward, Ichigo brought his sword up and swung to the side at both Jiraiya and Tsunade. Both were only inches away from being cut by the blade, which shocked both while leaping backwards.

"He's faster." Jiraiya flatly stated.

Smirking at the pair, Ichigo boldly said "And I'm stronger too. Sure you want to challenge me still?"

"Don't get cocky!" Tsunade growled out while charging Ichigo.

Throwing a fist at Ichigo's head, Tsunade missed by mere inches with Ichigo smirking. Stepping back, Ichigo swung his sword hard at Tsunade, who tried to pull back to evade the slash, but was a bit late and got a small scratch across her right cheek.

Reaching up and feeling the few drops of blood coming from the scratch, Tsunade's eyes turned cold and feral. She instantly rushed forward, fists flying, but she couldn't land a single hit on Ichigo who simply dodged each easily, as if he was hardly trying.

Further infuriated by this, Tsunade tried kicking at Ichigo, but missed as well. Watching the fight between the pair, Jiraiya finally decided to aide his comrade. Coming in, he threw fist after fist at Ichigo, alongside with Tsunade, but like her, had no success at hitting his target. 

"Is this all you two can do?" Ichigo mockingly challenged while retreating five feet away, putting a little distance between himself and the pair.

Deeply growling, Jiraiya prepared to rush forward, but Tsunade held her hand out in front of him, stopping him. "I see now. You have gotten stronger." she simply commented. "Jiraiya, let's leave."

"WHY!?" Jiraiya bellowed. "WE CAN TAKE HIM!"

Sighing lightly, Tsunade calmly said "There is no need to fight an unnecessary battle. The slaves will be ours in the end. Besides, no need to waste our true strength on him, and anyways, I can sense that other insolent pup is nearby as well. Come, we'll take our leave and fight it out another day."

Growling with frustration, Jiraiya finally calmed and reluctantly said "Very well, we shall let you live for now you insolent brat."

"What's your rush? Why not come finish what we began!?" Ichigo challenged.

Making runic hand signs, Tsunade turned away and opened a blue shimmering portal, slowly saying "Perhaps next time brat. Till then, enjoy what's left of your life."

Tsunade quickly stepped in, with Jiraiya standing in front of it smirking at Ichigo. "Next time, you won't get off so easy." he bragged.

Jiraiya then stepped in, instantly closing the portal behind him. Sighing deeply, Ichigo glanced at the two fallen humans. Releasing the blade's transformed state back to it's normal form, Ichigo sheathed his sword and walked over to the pair and checked them out.

"Looks like Tsunade and Jiraiya had to use force to get you two down. Don't worry, your wounds will heal soon once you transform. Better get you two back to the village." Ichigo muttered.

Shouldering each of the two, he took off running towards the village, hoping to find Iya or the others.

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Chasing after Kirara in her kitten form, Kohaku happily laughed. Falling into the flowers in the field, he stared up at the sky and smiled happily.

"Life is so much better now." he murmured, earning him a small mew from Kirara.

Thinking back to his life while serving under Naraku, Kohaku lightly shuttered. He remembered all the horrible things the half demon had had him do, the people he had murdered in cold blood, and how the evil half demon had pitted him time and time again against his older sister. Eventually, he had woken up and regained control of his mind and body, but still, the guilt weighed heavily on him. Upon waking up, he had vowed to kill Naraku, no matter what it took. Kikyo had eventually taken him in and helped him out in trying to take Naraku down, but in the end, she had died. Sesshomaru then took him in and protected him, making him a part of his group. During that time, he got closer to Rin, learning more and more about the happy girl. He had to admit, her happiness had rubbed off on him, and he had felt somewhat content to stay with the group. Eventually though, he had left to rejoin his sister and her group. His life had nearly ended thanks to Naraku taking his Sacred Jewel Shard, but Kikyo had left him one last gift. The light that had been in his shard kept his life force intact, so even without the shard, he was able to stay alive, which his sister, along with himself, was very thankful for.

Bathing in the sunlight of the setting sun, Kohaku happily sighed. He was content with life now, feeling as if he had finally found peace. Of course, with the arrival of Iya, he knew peace was over and that he may get drawn back into bloody battles. He hated violence and fighting now thanks to Naraku, but that had always been the case even prior to the half demon turning him into a killing machine. Kohaku had always been happy to not fight and to live a peaceful life. Even though he was a part of the demon slayer family line, the work didn't appeal to him. Still, he did as he was told. Now, he still pondered why he accepted the ideals, but knew there were times that he had to fight, and now as going to be one of them.

Feeling Kirara snuggle up on his chest, Kohaku gazed up at the setting sun, pondering how many more would come before things would break loose.

Hearing a light rustling, Kirara stirred and sat up. She instantly bristled up and hissed. Leaping off of Kohaku's chest, she stood in front of him and instantly was engulfed in flames, making Kohaku sit up quickly. From the flames, a large saber tooth tiger like cat with large fangs sticking out of it's mouth, and similar coloring to Kirara, with flames on her twin tails and feet appeared. She let out a soft growl while glaring at a figure in a black robe with his hood up that was approaching.

Seeing the figure himself, Kohaku stood up and reached for his chain scythe and readied it. The figure finally stopped walking towards him and pulled back his hood, revealing a face with bleached white skin, long dull looking black hair that reached his mid-back, two purple marks pointed downwards off of his eyebrows, and snake like slit olive eyes.

With a snake like voice, he coolly said "I finally found you, my prize."

A small shiver ran up Kohaku's back upon hearing this, but he stood his ground and glared at the man. "Who are you?" he calmly asked with scythe in hand and ready to strike.

Smirking darkly, the man smoothly said "My name is Orochimaru. I am here to collect you as my new slave."

Pulling back a little, Kohaku glared at the man and spat out "I'm no one's slave!"

"I'm sure you'll change your mind once I take you as mine." Orochimaru slyly replied.

Moving into an attack stance, Orochimaru challengingly glared at Kohaku, who pulled back and grasped his chain scythe tightly. Kirara let out a low growl and quickly leapt forward, fangs bared and roaring. She snapped at Orochimaru, but missed. With a swift kick, Orochimaru knocked Kirara away and into a nearby tree, where she fell to the ground and transformed back to her kitten form.

"Kirara!" Kohaku worriedly cried out, but suddenly shifted his attention to a hard charging Orochimaru.

Quickly throwing his scythe at the oncoming Orochimaru, Kohaku cursed under his breath as the white skinned demon dodged. Jerking the scythe back quickly, Kohaku threw his chain at the demon, latching it onto Orochimaru's leg.

"I've got you now!" he cried out and yanked hard, but found that Orochimaru didn't even lose his balance.

"Think you have me do you boy? Then watch this!" Orochimaru smugly said while making a series of hand signs. "Earth Style, Smashing Ground Quake!"

Smashing his fist into the ground, Orochimaru smugly smiled at the ground crumbling beneath Kohaku, who instantly lost his footing and dropped his scythe. Rushing forward, Orochimaru was a top of Kohaku quickly and instantly turned his palms to the boy. In a chant, he began speaking words that Kohaku couldn't understand, but suddenly began to feel sleepy.

Just before losing consciousness, Kohaku mumbled "Sister…"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catching the scent of a snake demon, Iya quickly ran in the direction of it. There, in the field, Iya could smell also Kohaku's scent, along with the small neko demon, Kirara.

Arriving, he found Orochimaru standing over top of Kohaku with a smirk. Drawing Ketsaiga quickly, Iya came rushing in and swung hard at the mage, who leapt into the air, but received a gash on his robe.

Landing, Orochimaru glared at Iya. "Can't you see I'm busy!" he hissed angrily.

Glaring back at the mage, Iya calmly replied "I won't let you take Kohaku."

Growling softly, Orochimaru opened his mouth and shot his tongue out at Iya. It was elongated and quickly reached for Iya, who dodged it easily. Calling forth power into his sword, Iya transformed the blade into it's ice form, causing ice to form over the blade once more. Swinging it widely, Iya cried out "Shard Storm!"

Small ice daggers formed on the blade and launched straight for Orochimaru, who quickly retracted his tongue and rolled out of the way of the ice. Landing off to the side, he glared at Iya who was rushing towards him.

"You will not deny me my prize!" Orochimaru snapped while opening up his mouth. A small snake within it suddenly appeared, which then opened it's mouth, shooting a large sword blade out.

Shocked, Iya backed up a few steps and parried Orochimaru's attack, making the blades clash against one another. Swinging widely with his head, Orochimaru continued to strike Iya's blade, who could only parry back to fend off the onslaught.

Finally having had enough, Iya leapt backwards and let the icy blade fade away. Raising his sword above his head, he slammed it into the ground, screaming "Wind Slash!"

A single line of white energy went racing forward from the sword towards Orochimaru, who quickly leapt out of the way and pulled his sword back down his throat. Glaring at Iya with his olive snake eyes, he glanced over at Kohaku and then back at Iya. Noting this, Iya quickly moved in front of Kohaku, blocking the way.

Growling, Orochimaru finally calmed and chuckled, and shrugged. "Very well, I see you are intent on keeping my prize away from me. For now, I shall retreat, but be warned; next time I shall have him."

"You're going nowhere mage!" Iya screamed out while rushing towards Orochimaru.

Seeing the oncoming attack, Orochimaru made a few runic hand signs, causing a blue energy portal to appear behind him. Stepping in it, he sneered at Iya just as he was about to strike. Moving on through, the portal closed just as Iya swung at the exact same spot.

"Damn, he escaped…" Iya grunted. Sheathing his sword, he walked over to Kohaku's prone body to make a startling discovery. Before him no longer was a young boy, but a young man. The clothes he wore were tight on him, seemingly too tight.

"He cast an aging spell, along with a transformation spell…" Iya lowly murmured.

Deeply sighing, Iya picked Kohaku up and shouldered him. Walking over to the tree where Kirara lay in kitten form, he gently picked up the kitten and began walking back towards the village.


	11. Chapter 11: Regroup

Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! This week has been an odd one, I suppose. Easter weekend wasn't too bad. Me and my mate didn't do anything really, other than go to the story Saturday and watch **_**Enchanted**_** when we got home. It wasn't bad, but it was a romantic-comedy, not my kind of thing. Sunday, really, nothing happened, other than I visited my grandfather while my mate had to go to work. Oh well, things happen I suppose.**

**Well, I suppose since there were no reviews, I'll begin. I do have a question though. Is everyone that is to get an alert when this updates getting one? I know I've had one chapter thus far where no one got an alert, and I'm curious if that was the case last time. Anyways, if you could let me know, I'd be thankful. If that's the case, I'll possibly begin PM'ing alerts instead since the stupid alerts are possibly once again broken. Ack, I wish would fix those already. Since my mate has been here, which was '04 or so, the alerts have been messed up. They've gotten better, but other than that, they occasionally still mess up.**

**Oops, sorry about the rant. Just irritated over the alert system. Sorry about that.**

**Without any further ado, here is the new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

Slowly, the group consisting of Lilly, Inuyasha, and an unconscious Kagome, returned to Kaede's hut. Although injured still, Inuyasha refused to let Lilly carry Kagome or himself, and had taken it upon himself to carry Kagome himself. Arriving, the elderly miko with grey hair bound up that wore an eye patch over her right eye and a set of old red and white robes had the group come into her hut.

"Ye neko, bring me some water from the stream." the elder miko commanded.

Lilly obeyed and quickly fetched some fresh water. Returning, she handed it over immediately to the woman. The elder miko was still tending to Inuyasha's wounds, who kept grumbling.

"Kaede, take care of Kagome! My wounds will heal!" he barked angrily.

Shaking her head, Kaede remarked "Ye girl shall be fine, but ye's wounds are bad."

"I don't give a damn! Take care of Kagome first! That filthy fox Kurama did something to her and now she won't wake up!" he screamed, making Lilly flatten her ears to her head.

"Do you have to yell?" a voice called out from the outside of the hut. Walking in with Kohaku on his shoulder and Kirara in his other arm, Iya grumbled "Half the forest heard you complaining."

"SHUT UP! KAGOME NEEDS HELP!" Inuyasha snapped.

Sighing, Iya set Kohaku down on the floor gently, and placed Kirara on his lap. Turning back to Inuyasha, Iya quietly said "There is nothing to do for her now."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO FOR HER!?" Inuyasha screamed loudly and began getting out of bed.

"Lay still!" Kaede commanded gruffly.

Ignoring her, Inuyasha stood and gingerly walked over to Iya and grabbed a hold of his collar, yelling "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

"Sheesh, can you yell a little louder." a new voice grunted from outside the hut. Walking in with Sango and Miroku on each shoulder, Ichigo carefully set the two down.

Looking at his three fallen friends, Shippou, who had been sitting beside Kagome worriedly asked "What happened to all of them?!"

Deeply sighing at the sight of Sango and Miroku, Iya mumbled "The mages got to them all…"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE!?" Inuyasha screamed at the top of his lungs, making both Iya and Lilly flatten their ears to keep the noise out.

Growling loudly, Iya broke Inuyasha's hold on his collar and growled out "SHUT UP!"

Backing down, Inuyasha hobbled back over to where Kaede had had him laying and sat down. Taking a deep breath, he gruffly asked "What is going on Iya!?"

Deeply sighing, Iya slowly said "The mages, they've attacked all of them just like they said they would. Each of them has had a spell cast on them to make them the mages' slaves."

Frowning, Inuyasha asked "How do we stop it?"

"We can't. For the rest of the night and most of tomorrow, they'll all be asleep. During this time, they'll transform into their half demon states." Iya informed. "Once the transformations are over, after a day has passed, they will wake up. We then have thirty days to kill the mages before the spell takes full effect."

"And if we don't?" Shippou worriedly asked.

Closing his eyes, Inuyasha looked away and said "They become slaves permanently, right?"

"Good, you actually remember what I said." Iya half-heartedly joked.

Reopening his eyes and throwing a glare at Iya, Inuyasha growled out "How can you joke at a time like this!?"

"It's not easy." Iya teased. Turning serious, he added "There is nothing we can do for now."

"What, we just wait!?" Inuyasha impatiently asked.

"It's all we can do." Ichigo replied with a grim look. "Till they transform, they'll be out cold."

Looking down at the ground, Iya deeply sighed, muttering "I had hoped to stop this… I see even warning you all was just a moot point."

"Iya, you had no idea this would happen though. You tried to save them, and really, you did by keeping the mages from taking them with them." Lilly consoled.

Sighing lightly, Inuyasha muttered "At least they're safely with us."

"True, but that won't stop the mages from trying to get them back. They'll stop at nothing to get their slaves early. Even though they're not under their control, they'll still want them. They always crave them." Ichigo muttered with some anger crossing his face.

Sensing a demonic aura rapidly approaching, Iya suddenly ran out of the hut. Sniffing the air, Iya frowned and watched a sphere of white energy come floating down towards the hut. The sphere soon landed on the ground and expanded. Slowly, the energy dissolved away and revealed Sesshomaru standing with an unconscious woman, whose face peeked out of his fur boa that was wrapped around her, in his arms.

"Sesshomaru…" Iya mumbled with a touch of shock.

Hobbling to the door, Inuyasha looked out to see Sesshomaru and let out a feral growl. "What the hell are you doing here Sesshomaru!?" he loudly snapped.

Emotionlessly, Sesshomaru replied "I see you are still alive little brother."

Growling loudly, Inuyasha stumbled forward and grabbed the hilt of Tetsusaiga. He was about to draw it when Iya suddenly grabbed hold of his arm, growling out "Not now Inuyasha!"

Shaking Iya's arm off, Inuyasha angrily yelled "Why not now! That bastard nearly killed me thousands of times and now isn't a good time!"

"I understand Sesshomaru hasn't been hospitable in the past, but we don't have time for this now! Kagome and the others of your pack are depending on us to save them!" Iya angrily spat.

Realizing what Iya was saying, Inuyasha released his hold on Tetsusaiga and calmed down a bit. Angrily, he shoved his fists into his kimono sleeves and grunted out "Feh!"

Sighing heavily, Iya returned his attention to Sesshomaru. Sniffing the air, Iya's eyes softened a bit upon recognizing a familiar scent. Calmly, he said "I take it the mages got to that young girl as well Sesshomaru."

Keeping his emotionless mask on, Sesshomaru calmly said "A single mage attacked this Sesshomaru earlier. This Sesshomaru has come to ask you to check on my ward."

Chuckling at Sesshomaru's formality, while also chuckling at Inuyasha rolling his eyes, Iya nodded. "I shall."

Walking forward, Iya gently turned the head of the young woman towards Sesshomaru and stooped down lightly. Moving her hair off to the side, Iya examined the young woman's neck to find a faint grey mark of a grinning snake.

Deeply sighing, Iya stood and released the woman's hair, saying "She's definitely had the binding spell cast on her. Sesshomaru, was the one that attacked you known as Ichimaru?"

Softly growling at the mention of the name that irked him greatly, Sesshomaru curtly nodded. Seeing that Iya knew, he asked "How do you know this?"

"The insignia on the back of her neck, it is that of Ichimaru. It bares a snake with a grin, which is his insignia." Iya retorted.

Nodding with understanding, Sesshomaru stoically said "Reverse the spell."

Slightly shocked by Sesshomaru's demand, Iya calmed and replied "Unfortunately, I don't know the reversal spell. I only know of two ways possible to reverse it. The first being an unsure method, which is to have the mage reverse it. The other being that the mage that cast the spell is killed before the binding spell becomes permanent."

"How long does that take?" Sesshomaru shortly asked.

"Thirty days after the victim wakes up." Iya replied. "Also, there is one other thing you should know. Even if the binding spell is reversed, the person it is cast onto can never go back to being the age they were, or be human again. Unfortunately, the person will have the life of a normal half demon, and all the weaknesses and strengths that come with it."

Deeply frowning, Sesshomaru laid Rin on the ground beside of himself and glared at Iya. "You caused this to happen to this Sesshomaru's ward." he stoically stated.

Shocked at Sesshomaru's statement, Inuyasha shouted "It's not Iya's fault that…"

Holding a hand out to silence Inuyasha in mid-sentence, Iya somberly said "It's alright Inuyasha. It is partially my fault. Father charged me with killing the mages, and I've been at fault for not killing them soon enough. Many have suffered due to that."

Lowering his hand, Iya then swiftly added "But I am not the only one at fault Sesshomaru. You too are at fault for not stopping them when you had the chance two and a half centuries ago."

"It was not my place to do your work." Sesshomaru remarked.

"Wait, what happened two and half centuries ago?" Inuyasha questioned, somewhat shocked by this development.

Pointing at Sesshomaru, Iya calmly said "Back two and half centuries ago, a few days after I had visited you and your mother, I went to the Western Stronghold. Along the way, I picked up the scent of the mages. They had literally passed right by the front gates of the Western Stronghold, and Sesshomaru didn't lift a finger to stop them!"

Growling deeply, Iya glared at Sesshomaru, angrily saying "His only reasoning was it was my task, not his! Sesshomaru, you fool, you could have cut their numbers down for me, making it easier to kill them!"

"This Sesshomaru was not responsible for finishing your work for you. You are to blame for what has happened to this Sesshomaru's ward." Sesshomaru calmly stated.

"I will not take full blame for your mistake Sesshomaru!" Iya angrily spat. "You're just as much to blame as I am!"

In his normal stoic tone, Sesshomaru remarked "This Sesshomaru will not share the blame for you, **half breed**!"

Growling loudly, Iya's eyes flickered with a trace of red for a moment. The flickering quickly vanished, but he immediately placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. Slowly, he drew Ketsaiga, transforming it upon doing so.

"You've called me a half breed only twice in my life, and both times I've resented you for it. Last time, you knocked me unconscious, forcing me to submit." Iya coldly said. Pointing Ketsaiga at Sesshomaru, he added "This time, it will be you who submits to me."

"You point father's fang at this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru questioned calmly. Drawing the sword from the top of his obi, he held it out and prepared to move.

In an amazing show of speed, Sesshomaru charged at Iya, who at the same time moved back away from the nearby huts. Turning towards Sesshomaru, he challengingly said "Not here. Follow me."

Slightly irked, Sesshomaru quickly closed the gap between him and Iya, only to find it widened once more with Iya leading him into a nearby empty field. Finally in it, Iya came to a dead stop and turned to face Sesshomaru with his sword raised.

Arriving in the field, Sesshomaru came to a halt when he saw Iya waiting. Slowly moving forward, Sesshomaru immediately went into a full run. Iya did the same, and the two met in the middle with blades clashing against one another, making several sparks fly off of the two meeting. The sounds of blades clashing filled the air as the two continued to exchange blows.

Both had a calm and serene look to them while attacking and countering one another. After a few minutes of clashing together, the two separated, each staring one another down, seemingly looking for an opening in the other's defenses.

"You've improved." Sesshomaru nonchalantly commented.

Smirking, Iya remarked "So have you."

"Back down." Sesshomaru simply stated in response.

Still smirking, Iya shook his head. "Not this time Sesshomaru. I may not be a full demon, nor care to be, but I deserve respect. I did all I could to stop the mages, and am still trying. Blaming me for your ward's attack will not change the fact that she is now in danger of becoming Ichimaru's slave."

"You failed to kill them Iya. Father was a fool to leave you with such an important task."

Growling loudly, Iya charged forward, yelling "Leave father out of this!"

The blades once more clashed together, sending out sparks again. Iya pressed hard, swinging his blade fiercely against Sesshomaru's, forcing Sesshomaru to backup some. Seeing he had the advantage, Iya continued pushing, making Sesshomaru lightly growl as his arm began buckling lightly under the tremendous force Iya was exerting.

Separating once more, Sesshomaru smirked a bit. "You have indeed become strong." he commented calmly.

"Glad you noticed." Iya commented while glaring. "Ready to give up?"

"Hardly." Sesshomaru calmly stated. "True, you have grown stronger, but not strong enough to make this Sesshomaru submit."

Taking up an attack stance once more, Iya commented "Then I'll have to show you more of what I've learned."

Rushing forward, Iya prepared to strike Sesshomaru when suddenly a new sword slid in between the two, cutting off his path and making the metal clash off one another. Looking, Iya saw in shock that it was Ichigo who stood in the way.

"Damn it Ichigo, move!" Iya snarled.

Glaring hard at Iya, Ichigo punched him hard in the face, knocking Iya backwards a bit.

Walking into the middle completely, Ichigo yelled "You two idiots, use your heads! We don't have time for the two of you to kill one another!"

Glancing at Sesshomaru, Ichigo added "I may not like you, Sesshomaru, but I know that in order to save that girl back there, you need to be alive. Plus, you're to blame for her transformation. You should have protected her!"

Sesshomaru's eyes widened a slight fraction upon hearing this, but soon his mask of calmness returned. "Watch your mouth quarter demon." he irritably said.

"Whatever." Ichigo muttered. Turning back to Iya, he snapped out "And you should know better than to fight him at a time like this! We need to find the mages save everyone, not fight one another! Saving the others is top priority!"

Iya looked down and away upon hearing this, knowing Ichigo was right. Deeply sighing, he transformed Ketsaiga back to it's original form and sheathed it. Looking up, Iya calmly replied "You're right Ichigo."

"Heh, never thought I'd hear those words come from you." Ichigo bragged.

Lightly growling, Iya stopped and couldn't help but lightly chuckle to himself. Sesshomaru, seeing the battle was over, sheathed his sword as well, but stared Iya down nonetheless.

"We should get back to the village." Iya calmly stated.

The three soon returned with Inuyasha impatiently waiting outside. Noting that the young woman wrapped in his fur boa was gone, Sesshomaru quickly rushed forward and grabbed Inuyasha by the neck roughly and held him up off the ground a few feet. In a low growl, he asked "Where is Rin!?"

Grasping Sesshomaru's wrist tightly, Inuyasha began choking from the pressure of Sesshomaru's strength. Intervening, Iya knocked Inuyasha free from Sesshomaru's grasp, growling out "What's the matter with you, Sesshomaru!?"

"Where is Rin!?" he snarled out once more.

Catching his breath, Inuyasha coughed a few times and rubbed his sore neck. Glaring at Sesshomaru, he angrily snapped "Why the hell should I tell you, you bastard! I tried to be nice and take her in to get looked at, but you nearly kill me for my trouble!"

Calming a bit, Sesshomaru moved to enter the hut, only to be blocked by Lilly at the door. "I'm sorry, but you can't come in right now." she softly said.

Glaring at her, Sesshomaru defiantly said "You're in the way."

"I apologize, but she's being looked at right now. No men can come in." Lilly apologetically said.

Realization entered Sesshomaru's mind at Lilly's words and he settled. Turning wordlessly, he walked to the front of the hut and leaned up against the hut with his arms folded.

All of the group let out a small sigh and sat down nearby. Each patiently waited till finally Lilly came out and looked to Sesshomaru. With a light bow, she humbly said "You may come in now."

Wordlessly, Sesshomaru followed Lilly in. Going in, Sesshomaru saw the four other humans laying in the hut, each unconscious and covered with blankets. Looking at each, he saw nothing different other than one, who was Kohaku. He instantly realized the boy that had traveled with him and his group before was now older than before.

Returning his attention to Lilly, he saw her walk over to Rin, who lay covered with a blanket. Noting at the top of the blanket that he saw some kind of straps on her shoulders, he looked questionably at Lilly, asking "Is she dressed?"

"She's wearing a simple shift. We're working on finding her a kimono that will fit. She's about my size and age, so we're trying to find clothes for both of us." Lilly calmly said.

Reaching over, Lilly picked up the fur boa that had been set to the side, kindly saying "This belongs to you I believe."

Taking it, Sesshomaru returned it to his shoulder the way it had been previously and wordlessly walked out of the hut. Slightly sighing, Lilly looked at the young woman and sadly smiled.

"He's worried about you." she mumbled.

"Lilly, child, could ye help me for a moment?" Kaede called out, breaking Lilly's momentary thoughts.

Turning to Kaede, Lilly softly smiled and nodded, following the elder woman over to Kagome. "Ye notice that Kagome is burning up?" the old miko asked.

Seeing what Kaede talked about, she saw that Kagome was sweating profusely, even after the pair had taken her blanket off and wiped her down occasionally, but her temperature still remained warm.

"I see what you're talking about Kaede." Lilly softly remarked. "How can we get her fever to break?"

"I'm unsure, but ye should go out and fetch Iya." Kaede advised.

Nodding, Lilly walked out to find the group of Iya, Inuyasha, and Ichigo sitting together while Sesshomaru was off on his own leaning against a tree. Seeing Iya, she walked to him and softly smiled. "Iya, Kaede needs you in the hut for a moment."

Standing up, Iya nodded and followed her in. Noting Kaede at Kagome's side, he walked over, asking "What's the matter, Lady Kaede?"

"The child's fever won't break. Does this occur with the transformation?" Kaede worriedly asked.

Thinking momentarily, Iya replied "Most of the transformations do heat up the victim's body."

"Is it like a permanent one, because she's been sweating badly for the last hour or so?" Lilly questioned.

Taking a moment to ponder on Lilly's question, Iya finally said "No, most usually cool a bit after they're rubbed down with a cool cloth."

"We've rubbed her down a few times already Iya, and she's still hot. We can't bring the fever down at all." Lilly quickly explained.

Sighing lightly, Iya replied "She maybe transforming quicker than the others, but she shouldn't. Rin should transform first, then Kagome, followed by Sango and Miroku about the same time, and finally Kohaku. Kagome shouldn't be showing these signs this quickly. She has half the night yet to go before she actually should show them."

"You mean all of them will be like this!?" Lilly exclaimed in a bit of shock.

Shaking his head slightly, Iya replied "No, they shouldn't. Lady Kaede?"

Looking up at Iya, she answered "Yes child?"

"Kagome, she's a priestess, isn't she?"

"Yes, she be one. She is in charge of the Sacred Jewel." Kaede explained.

Frowning lightly, Iya calmly asked "The Jewel of Four Souls?"

"Yes, that be it." Kaede responded.

"I wonder if the jewel had an effect on her transformation. She gave it to Inuyasha though, right?" Iya asked with a look of concern.

"Aye."

Tapping his chin for a moment, Iya frowned once more. "I want to make sure Kagome doesn't have it. Lilly, can you and Kaede check her to make sure?"

Grunting with agitation, Kaede mumbled something about "Nosy dogs" and began checking Kagome's body. Lilly noted she had her left hand closed and curiously uncurled her fist, finding a small pink jewel in it.

"Kaede, is that the Sacred Jewel?" Lilly curiously asked.

Looking down at the jewel, Kaede softly gasped and gently picked it up from Kagome's hand, saying "Aye, it is. Inuyasha must have returned it to her."

"I bet he returned it to her before Kurama attacked." Iya commented softly. Calmly, he said "Lady Kaede, perhaps you should hold onto the jewel till Kagome awakes."

"Aye, that would be a good idea." Kaede remarked.

Turning to Iya, Lilly asked "Why did you think she had the jewel?"

"The transformation is why." Iya replied. "If she had the jewel when Kurama cast his spell, then it may have reacted to him. From what I understand, the Shikon Jewel increases a demon's powers, so the effect of the spell that Kurama cast could have been changed. The spell accelerated due that Kurama unknowingly may have used the jewel. I'm guessing she'll have thirty days like the others, but is just the transformation spell is just transforming her quicker than the others. That's about all I can come up with."

"I see…" Kaede quietly mumbled.

Glancing at Kagome's sweating brow, Iya calmly said "I believe she'll transform within the hour. Once her body transforms, she should be alright. The fever will break, and she'll cool off. Till then, just keep wiping her down."

Nodding, the elder woman nodded and responded with "Thank ye."

"I'm going back outside for now. If you need me Lilly, come get me." Iya informed which got a small nod from Lilly.

Turning, he walked outside and found Inuyasha sitting at the base of a nearby tree with his eyes half closed and his sword resting against his shoulder. Taking a seat next to his half brother, Iya leaned back against the tree and let out a soft sigh.

"Something wrong?" Inuyasha quickly asked.

Getting a no from Iya through a head shake, Inuyasha frowned slightly and asked "How are Kagome and the others?"

"The others are resting. Kagome though will transform into her half demon state soon." Iya remarked.

Opening his eyes wide, Inuyasha quickly turned to Iya, worriedly saying "Transform into a half demon!? But I thought you said it took a long time to do that!"

Calmly, Iya softly said "Normally it does, but she was holding the Shikon Jewel when the spell was cast on her. The jewel somehow or another augmented Kurama's powers and made the spell take affect quicker is all. She'll be fine."

Slightly worried yet, Inuyasha stood up with a bit of difficulty. "I'm going to go sit with her. She's been with me when I was always down, so I think it's only fair I return the favor."

"It's alright. Go on." Iya replied with a soft smile.

Watching his younger brother walk away, Iya eyes softened. "_I know that he loves her. You can fool everyone else little brother, but not me._"

Reaching the hut, Inuyasha could hear Kagome's ragged breathing already. Undeterred, he walked in, earning him a glance from both Kaede and Lilly. "I came to sit with Kagome." he simply stated.

Kaede softly sighed and said "It is alright."

Hobbling over, Inuyasha sat down in the floor next to Kagome. Her breathing was labored, and sweat was pouring from her brow. "Kagome…" he softly whispered.

Getting a tap on his shoulder, he looked up to see Lilly softly smiling and handing him a bowl with water and a rag in it. "Here, use this to help cool her." she kindly said.

Understanding, Inuyasha took the bowl and rung out the cloth. Gently, he wiped Kagome's forehead and her neck. Using his other hand, he felt her head and frowned at the fact she was rather warm yet. Suddenly, her body went rigid and her face filled with pain as she softly cried out in pain while her body began to glow with a pink aura.

"Kagome!?" he asked aloud, drawing attention from both Lilly and Kaede.

The three watched in amazement as her body elevated a few feet off of the ground while a pink aura continued to flare around her body. The blanket that was covering her fell to the ground in a pool. The three lightly cringed at the sound of Kagome's bones crackling and seemingly shifting. Sharp toenail like claws slightly came out from her socks, and the nails on her hand sharpened and hardened, becoming claws. Her skin lightly tightened a bit, and her muscles toned a bit. On her head, her human ears slowly vanished and new black dog ears sprouted on top. From underneath her skirt, a black puffy tail slid out. Her gritted teeth sharpened and fangs appeared. Releasing the look of pain in her face, she softly floated back to the ground with the pink aura fading quickly.

Laying back on the bed, Kagome lightly panted. Examining her new features, Inuyasha felt his breath catch in his throat. "_She's… she's so beautiful as a half demon. Why do I feel a deeper connection to her now?_"

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he took the cloth he had and dipped it once more. Gently, he wiped her face down while taking in her scent that smelled of vanilla and cherry petals. The scent itself always seemed to calm him, and even now his worry was ebbing away slightly over her condition.

Finishing with wiping her face and neck down, Inuyasha watched Kagome lightly moan and seemingly sink into a more peaceful sleep. Softly sighing at this, he rose up and turned to find to Lilly nearby. "Lilly, will you make sure when she wakes up that you come get me?" he asked, trying hard to keep from being too gruff about it.

Softly smiling, Lilly nodded and replied "I will Inuyasha. Go rest for a while. You need it to let your own wounds heal."

Grumbling, Inuyasha nodded and walked outside to find the villagers were gathering around the front of the hut. Many had pitchforks and other farming tools, while some held torches and were all angrily staring at Sesshomaru, who was leaning against a nearby tree. Iya and Ichigo stood in front of the crowd, seemingly trying to calm it.

"Please, you all need to go back to your homes." Iya calmly stated.

Glaring past him at Sesshomaru, all of the crowd ignored him. One man shouted out "We don't welcome demons here!"

"You half breeds we don't care for very much, but that full demon has to go!" another added.

The crowd all shouted out with agreement upon the statement, making Iya lightly growl out with frustration.

Suddenly, Sesshomaru moved from his spot towards the crowd, making some of the men back up. Staring at them with indifferent eyes, he stoically said "Weak humans, be gone now."

"Sesshomaru, don't do anything to them." Iya quickly said and moved in front of him to block him from the villagers. "They're just confused and worried is all."

Looking out at them, Sesshomaru simply turned away, saying "They are not worth this Sesshomaru's time."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Iya turned to the villagers, saying "Go home before he feels provoked. Stay there and you'll be safe."

"We won't let a demon stay in our village!" a man cried out and broke from the ranks of the crowd. He began running towards Sesshomaru with his pitchfork raised.

Iya was about to intercept when suddenly Inuyasha grabbed the man by the shirt and threw him back into the crowd roughly. Growling deeply, he snarled "Don't be a fool! Do you want to die!?"

The villagers all saw that look Inuyasha was giving them and immediately began backing up and finally turned and ran. Putting his hands in his sleeves, Inuyasha muttered out a "Feh."

"Thank you." Iya gratefully uttered.

"Keh, stupid humans, they should know Sesshomaru is a full demon and will kill them without any hesitation." Inuyasha gruffly retorted.

"He wasn't always like this." Iya lowly muttered.

Somewhat shocked at hearing this, Inuyasha turned to Iya, asking "What do you mean he used to not always be like this?"

Glancing up at Sesshomaru, Iya saw the hard glare coming from him. "He deserves to know Sesshomaru." Iya calmly said.

Sesshomaru didn't say a word but continued to stare coldly at Iya. Deeply sighing, Iya apologetically said "I'm sorry Sesshomaru, but he should know."

"You are under a vow of silence. Do not break it!" Sesshomaru warningly growled out.

Once more deeply sighing, Iya replied "Sesshomaru, he has a right to know the truth. I'm sorry, but I must break the vow."

Growling a bit more, Sesshomaru suddenly and wordlessly turned away and began walking off into the woods, leaving Iya somewhat shocked.

Turning to Ichigo, Iya asked "Will you stand guard over the others?"

"I won't be able to hold off all the mages if they come back." Ichigo pointed out.

Grinning, Iya remarked "We're not going very far. Just far enough to where we're still on the edge of hearing you."

Shrugging, Ichigo yawned and sat down in front of the nearby tree. "Go on, I'll stick around." he muttered.

"Inuyasha, come with me." Iya gently commanded.

Nodding, Inuyasha followed Iya with a hobble into the woods. Guessing he had enough distance, Iya stopped the pair and leapt into a nearby tree. Inuyasha followed suit and took up a sitting position on a limb. Leaning up against the tree himself, Iya relaxed up against it and closed his eyes.

Slowly, he reopened his eyes and looked down at Inuyasha, who had his back pressed up to the tree and looking up at him with a look of wonder. Deeply sighing, Iya glanced up at the sky and then back down at Inuyasha.

"So?" Inuyasha curiously asked.

Softly smiling, Iya slowly said "The reason Sesshomaru hates humans and half demons so much is complicated. He once loved a human, and he felt his love was betrayed, which drove him to where he is now."

Looking confused at Iya, Inuyasha was about to ask Iya more on the fact when Iya shook his head. "This all happened two hundred and sixty-five years ago, back when father was still alive."


	12. Chapter 12: Past Betrayl, Pt 1

Chapter 12

**Hello again everyone! Well, since last time, not much has been happening with me at all. Mostly just been trying to survive work, lol.**

**Thank you for the two reviews I received, and the numerous hits. I'm rather surprised at the hits more than anything. So many, so fast, lol, but it's all cool. Heh, I'm just glad people are glancing at this story, but I do like comments, so feel free to leave them.**

**At any rate, I'll go ahead and answer the reviews I have.**

**amori kuwabara: Lol, it's cool. I understand, real life always comes first before reading and stuff. Heh, I have the same thing in my life, with me juggling being with my wife, work, helping my dad out on his farm, and visiting my grandfather constantly. It just takes up so much time, lol, but I don't mind too much, I suppose deep down, hehe. I'm glad you really like my story thus far. I worked hard on getting an actual storyline together, and I'm happy it's panning out for now. I'll continue to try and keep updating constantly, but should try writing on this story more often, lol. Thanks for your review.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks. Yeah, stupid alerts seem to be broken. (/Sighs heavily.\) Ever since I've been here, they've been messed up occasionally, and when they are said to be fixed, they break again! Heh, I've been here since '05, and it seems like the alerts are never working quite right, lol. My mate (wife) has been here longer and she said that's been the case forever, so oh well. I suppose to get around this, I'll begin sending out PM's when I do update, just so people know. At any rate, moving on. Yeah, Sesshomaru's boa is called MokoMoko-sama. I read up on it when writing out this story, but I prefer to just call it a boa, lol. Much shorter and easier to spell, hehe. I know, that's just lazy, but that's how I am, sometimes… But yes, I've read that it's detachable also, although most everyone thinks it's his tail or a part of him. Heh, I know I heard something about in the third movie, where he got stabbed in the shoulder, that the boa bled, but think about it. His shoulder was behind his 'Fluff,' so obviously when he's stabbed, the blood will soak through to the boa. I knew that much, but most thought it mean the thing was alive! Ack, but yes, it's a fashion accessory, not a tail, thankfully, hehe. Kagome is an Inu half demon. The tail is just something different. And no, I don't think Inuyasha will have tail envy, lol. I mean, Iya doesn't have one… that as far as everyone knows, hehe. Seriously, he has no tail either. True, Inuyasha could use the jewel to wish the mages dead, but remember, the jewel is a bit temperamental. If he uses it to make a wish like that, it most likely wouldn't disappear, thus keeping the gang busy for all time… LOL! I suppose if Sango and Miroku had children, they would be half demons since they had the same spell cast on them, but who knows if they'll get that far. Don't forget, like the others, they had the same binding spell put on them, meaning their days are numbered, literally. Heh, as for Kagome transforming, eh, who knows. As for too many questions, nah, you're not. I enjoy answering questions for anyone. LOL! A little hyper? Did you eat a whole bag of sugar and wash it down with some energy drink? Lol, I know, too personal a question, hehe. As for Lady Shankoutestu, her part is pretty much over. Uh, I don't think Inuyasha will learn to transform into a big puppy. Iya can do it, but there is an explanation later on as to why he can do it. I suppose Inuyasha could do it, but again, Iya was able due to a situation. Thanks for the review and all the questions!**

**Wow, so many questions… My head is spinning, lol. But it was fun. Again, thanks for the reviews you two! If anyone else has comments or questions, feel free to ask me in a review or PM. I like answering them, and as long as it's not detrimental to the plot, I'll almost always give an answer.**

**Well, I guess until Friday, I have time to plot on how to answer the next batch of reviews, lol. Till then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 12**

Sitting under a sakura tree was a young woman that had long silky ebony black hair that had a pink ribbon tying it into a ponytail, soft creamy skin, a beautiful face, soft and kind violet eyes, and an hourglass figure. She wore a long flowing purple kimono with sakura flower petal designs etched into it and a pink and purple obi sash around her waist that tied on her back.

She lightly hummed to herself a small tune to entertain herself. Without a sound, a pair of cool hands went across her eyes, softly saying "Guess who?"

Thinking for a moment, the young woman playfully said "Now, who could this be. Hmm, your hands feel nice and smooth, and a bit cold."

Reaching up and tapping her chin, the woman softly smiled, saying "It has to be you, Sesshomaru."

Releasing his hold over her eyes, Sesshomaru moved and sat down beside of the woman and softly smiled at her. Intertwining his hand with hers, he lightly kissed it and said "You guessed well Kaoru."

Kaoru lightly blushed at the reaction but kindly returned his smile. "I felt like I was waiting forever for you today."

Apologetically, he responded with "I'm sorry. Father had me go take care of a few renegade demons that were attacking a nearby village. It took me longer than I thought to find them and finish them."

Snuggling up against him, she murmured "It's alright. I was just a touch worried I guess."

Carefully, he placed a clawed finger under Kaoru's chin and tilted it up. Gold met violet, with Sesshomaru gazing into the depths of her eyes. "Kaoru, I have something important to ask you." he gently said.

"Alright."

Taking a deep breath, Sesshomaru softly smiled. "Kaoru, since I met you and we began courting, I've known for sure in my soul that I wanted to be with you, no matter what. I don't care that you're human and I'm a demon. I love you, and I want to spend my life with you. I ask you, will you be my mate?"

Instantly, Kaoru's eyes welled up with tears that began to slowly stream down the side of her face. With a bright smile, she nodded slowly, saying "Yes, I would love to be your mate!"

Embracing tightly, Sesshomaru lightly rubbed her back. Pulling back, he stared at her happy face and said "If it is alright with you, I would like to mate with you tomorrow night. I know you would like a wedding, and we can have that if you want still."

"I would like that." Kaoru quietly said. "Just to be your mate, that will be more than enough Sesshomaru."

Bending down, Sesshomaru lightly kissed Kaoru with a feathery kiss, then deepened it. Gently, he moved his tongue to her mouth and waited for permission to enter, which she willingly gave. The two tasted one another's mouths for a few minutes before finally pulling away. Blush covered Kaoru's face while Sesshomaru had a light touch of blush.

"Tomorrow my love, I shall come to get you. I'll come to your home and we'll explain things to your father. I know he'll understand since we've been courting for so long." Sesshomaru explained.

Nodding softly, Kaoru laid her head on Sesshomaru's chest and let out a contented sigh. Reaching up, Sesshomaru gently stroked her hair with his clawed hands while enjoying the moment they had.

Finally releasing one another, the pair stood up and Sesshomaru kindly said "Tomorrow my love, we will be mates."

"Till tomorrow my soon to be mate." she softly said. Reaching up, she stroked his cheek and placed a light, chastising kiss on his lips.

She started to turn and leave when Sesshomaru grabbed her gently and pulled her back to him and kissed her deeply. Coming up for air, the two panted lightly and placed their foreheads together and longingly looked into one another's eyes.

Finally, the pair separated with Kaoru heading towards the nearby village and Sesshomaru off towards the Western Stronghold in the distance.

Arriving home, Kaoru walked into her family's hut to find two men sitting around the fire pit with her father, seemingly talking. Her father was a man with grey short hair, hard brown eyes, and a medium build. The two men talking with him looked similar, with one being older than the other. Both had long brown hair, but the younger one had shorter hair, and each had brown eyes. The younger man seemed to have a bit of an eager look on his face, making Kaoru unsure of him.

Spotting Kaoru entering the hut, her father, Makoto, motioned for Kaoru to sit by him, which she obediently did. Sitting down, he smiled, saying "Mr. Kazuya Mishima, this is my daughter that I told you about. Her name is Kaoru."

Nodding towards Kaoru, the older man said "It is a pleasure to see you my dear. You are a lovely child."

Lightly blushing, Kaoru softly replied "Thank you."

"Kaoru, this is my son, Kesuke Mishima." Kazuya introduced.

Nodding to the young man, Kaoru kindly said "It is nice to meet you."

Licking his lips, Kesuke stared hard at Kaoru and finally responded with "The pleasure is all mine."

"Kaoru, I have some news. Kazuya here has asked that his son be allowed to marry you, and I have agreed." Makoto announced.

Shocked, Kaoru shot a shocked and hurt look towards Makoto, saying "But father…"

"Quiet my daughter." Makoto gruffly said.

Deeply sighing, Kaoru obeyed grudgingly. Smirking at this, Makoto turned his attention back to Kazuya, asking "Are we in agreement then?"

"Yes, we are Makoto. My son shall marry your daughter." Kazuya remarked.

"Very good then, we shall close this deal in the near future. Wait for my word, and once you hear from me, the marriage shall commence." Makoto calmly said, earning him a glare from Kaoru.

Both Kazuya and Kesuke stood, with Kazuya smiling and saying "Till we receive word, we shall wait. Come Kesuke."

Nodding to his father, Kesuke began to turn and follow, but took one last longingly glance at Kaoru, who threw him a glare and turned her head away. Licking his lips, Kesuke followed his father out of the hut, leaving Makoto and a steaming Kaoru alone.

"Father, how could you!?" Kaoru demanded angrily with a hot glare.

Chuckling, Makoto replied "You are my daughter, and I had to marry you off sometime. The Mishima Family is rather wealthy and an up and coming family. You should be honored that they accepted you. They had their pick of any girl within the village, but they chose you, the headman's daughter."

Angrily, Kaoru yelled "I don't give a damn whose family they are from! You know I love Sesshomaru, and you promised me to Lord Inutaisho. You can't go back on your word to him!"

"That demon lord matters little to me." Makoto smugly remarked.

Growling with fury, Kaoru shouted back "It matters to me!"

Calming slightly, she softly added "Sesshomaru asked me to be his mate this evening father. I accepted, and I will be his mate."

"WHAT!?" Makoto bellowed with great anger swelling in his voice. "HOW COULD YOU!? HE'S A DEMON!"

"A demon that I love!" Kaoru angrily snapped back. "He loves me, regardless that I'm human and he's a demon! He asked me to be his mate, and I accepted! I'm going to fulfill the agreement you made with Lord Inutaisho, not because I feel I should, because I love Sesshomaru and want to!"

Growling, Makoto hotly argued "I don't care! You are my daughter, and you will do as I say! No daughter of mine will mate with a demon!"

"Father, you're being unreasonable!" Kaoru fired back. "Think of what I want for once!"

Glaring at his daughter, Makoto stood up and angrily stomped towards the door. Stopping at the door, he glared at Kaoru and angrily said "You are my daughter and you will do as I tell you."

That said, he walked out of the hut, leaving Kaoru by the fire pit alone. Deeply sighing, she stared at the flames and mumbled "Why now father…"

Tears slowly slid down her cheeks unchecked while she sat, remembering all the harsh words her father had just said.

Stomping into the nearby shrine, Makoto angrily yelled "Priest, where are you!?"

Coming out, an elder man with a wrinkled up face, long grey hair pulled into a pony tail, wearing red and white robes humbly bowed to Makoto, saying "My lord, how may I be of service?"

"Tomorrow morning, I wish for you to perform a marriage ceremony." Makoto grunted out.

"Sir, who are the lucky couple?" the elder man happily asked.

"My daughter and Kesuke Mishima are the intended."

Frowning, the elder priest slowly asked "I thought your daughter was promised to Lord Inutaisho?"

"Do not question me!" Makoto snapped loudly.

Bowing deeply, the priest apologetically replied "I'm very sorry to question you, my lord."

Glaring at the elderly man, Makoto grunted out "Don't do so again. Now then, when my daughter comes tomorrow, I wish for the ceremony to be quick. Also, do not ask if she agrees. She will marry Kesuke."

Remorsefully, the priest nodded and said "Very well my lord…"

"Good. I expect you will be ready early then?"

"Yes my lord." the priest remarked.

Nodding, Makoto walked out with an evil grin on his face and towards the other side of the village to meet with Kazuya.

Upon finishing up with Kazuya, Makoto walked to a nearby messenger boy that delivered messages back and forth between the village and the Western Stronghold. Handing the young man a message, he said "Take this to the Western Stronghold and say it is to go to Lord Inutaisho."

"Very well my lord." the young man said. Turning and running, the young man raced off from the village with Makoto smugly watching.

"Sesshomaru, congratulations on picking Kaoru as your mate." Iya happily said.

Softly smiling, Sesshomaru lightly nodded to Iya, while their father patted Sesshomaru on the back. "Son, I wish you and Kaoru many years of happiness together."

"Thank you father, and thank you brother." Sesshomaru humbly replied. Turning to his father, he then asked "Father, are you alright with me mating a human?"

Lightly chuckling, Inutaisho flashed a fanged smile at Sesshomaru, saying "Sesshomaru, I'm happy for you, and to me, it doesn't matter if Kaoru was a demon, half demon, human, or anywhere else in that spectrum. She is the one person who makes you happy, and that's what matters to me."

Softly smiling back, Sesshomaru replied gently "Thank you father."

"So, have you prepared your room for your mate?" Inutaisho asked.

Lightly blushing, Sesshomaru remarked "Not yet."

"You should prepare it tonight, but for now, perhaps we should drink up to celebrate this wonderful time." Inutaisho merrily said.

"Thank you father, but no thank you. I'm going to go prepare for my mate." Sesshomaru replied. After a moment, he added "Perhaps later I shall join you."

"Very well son, go enjoy getting ready." Inutaisho calmly said. "Till then, me and Iya shall have to drink on our own."

Lightly chuckling as he left, Sesshomaru smiled back and walked on towards the eastern wing of the Western Stronghold where his room laid.

Picking up a vase of sake from a nearby display case in the main room, Inutaisho poured the brew into two small saucer like cups. Grabbing one himself, he motioned for Iya to take the other and the two sat down on a nearby luxurious set of chairs.

"To Sesshomaru, who has found happiness." Inutaisho toasted, in which he raised his cup. Iya followed suit and the two drank down the liquid. Grabbing the vase, he poured more into each cup and said "Drink up my son."

Chuckling at his father, Iya nodded and drank down the liquid that made his chest lightly burn from the taste of it. Looking over at his father, Iya smirked at seeing his father already filling up their cups once more.

"Iya, let me ask you something." Inutaisho said while pouring out the sake into their cups. "Do you care that Sesshomaru is mating with a human?"

"Not at all." Iya immediately answered upon his father asking. "Sesshomaru deserves to find someone to keep him happy. She maybe human, but that's alright. Whoever, whether they be human or demon, makes a person happy, then they should be with them. I'm very happy that Sesshomaru found Kaoru, and that he loves her for being herself."

Lightly smirking, Inutaisho said "Well said my son."

Both downed their sake while a servant walked in carrying a small scroll. Bowing lowly to Inutaisho, the female servant with black hair in a bun covered with a green cloth and ribbon said "Lord Inutaisho, I have a message for you."

"Very well Momo." Inutaisho responded and held out his hand, in which Momo placed the scroll. Bowing lowly once more, Momo backed away and slightly blushed while looking at Iya. Still, she hid it quickly and awaited further instruction.

Opening the scroll, Inutaisho read over it before suddenly deeply growling and gripping the scroll tightly and ripping part of it. Seeing this, Iya curiously asked "Father?"

Throwing the remains of the scroll to the ground, Inutaisho stood and turned to Momo, asking in a fierce voice "Who delivered this!?"

Slightly cowering back a little, Momo replied in a small voice "The messenger boy who runs between the village and here, my lord."

"Is he still outside!?" he gruffly asked in response.

Getting a nod in response, Inutaisho grunted out "Bring him here."

Bowing deeply, Momo quickly walked out of the room, leaving a fuming Inutaisho and bewildered Iya. Standing, Iya asked "Father, what's the matter?"

"That damn Makoto is what's the matter! Of all times, he has decided to pull a stunt like this!" Inutaisho growled out with anger dripping heavily from his voice.

"Like what?" Iya questioned with concern.

Inutaisho was about to answer when Momo walked back in with a young man following her. Both bowed deeply to Inutaisho, with the young man asking "How may I help you Lord Inutaisho?"

"Who gave you the scroll to give to me!?" Inutaisho fiercely asked.

Groveling lightly, the young man kept his eyes staring at the ground and responded "It was Headman Makoto, my lord."

Deeply growling, Inutaisho stomped on the already ripped up scroll. Angrily, he said "Tell Headman Makoto to prepare for my arrival tomorrow at midday!"

Bowing deeply, the young man said "Very well my lord."

Quietly, the young man walked out with Momo escorting him out. Once the two were gone, Inutaisho angrily smashed his fist through his chair, sending pieces of it flying and making Iya leap out of the way.

"Father?" Iya asked carefully.

Turning to Iya with anger visibly sitting on his face, Inutaisho angrily roared "That damned Makoto, he's decided to not honor our original agreement for Kaoru to mate with Sesshomaru!"

"Decided not to honor it!? But why now!?" Iya asked with a touch of anger of his own.

"The damned fool has found a human he wants her to marry with!" Inutaisho growled.

Growling himself, Iya's fist shook with fury. "He knows Kaoru loves Sesshomaru deeply. She's told everyone how in love she is with him, and vice versa for Sesshomaru!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a few calming breaths, Inutaisho deeply sighed and said "I know. Tomorrow, we are going to the village at midday. I shall talk with Makoto and try to reason with him."

"What about Sesshomaru?" Iya asked curiously.

"Not a word of this to him till we're certain what is going to happen. I don't want to ruin his mating, or dreams of mating with Kaoru." Inutaisho instructed.

"I will not mention it to him then." Iya commented back.

Glancing out the window at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, Inutaisho sighed once more and said "It is late. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm sure will be rather taxing."

Nodding, Iya softly smiled, saying "We'll figure this out father. Don't worry, I'm sure Kaoru and Sesshomaru will still be mates."

"I hope so." Inutaisho mumbled. "Goodnight Iya."

"Goodnight father."

That said, the pair dispersed towards their bedrooms, with Iya's being in the southern wing and Inutaisho towards the western wing. Little did the two know that Sesshomaru had been in the hallway leading towards the southern wing and sank to the ground upon hearing the words his father and Iya had spoke.

"Kaoru…" he mumbled lightly to himself.

Together, Iya and Inutaisho at midday the next day walked down towards the village. When Inutaisho had taken over rule from his father, the Demon Lord added his protection to the village, thus keeping it safe from demon attacks. Once Iya and Sesshomaru had been born and brought to see the village, the two had made some friends from it, with Sesshomaru finding Kaoru and falling in love. Sesshomaru soon told Inutaisho of his desire to court Kaoru, which he permitted and talked with Makoto over. Makoto, the village's headman, had agreed upon the courtship, so long as the pair didn't instantly mate. Inutaisho agreed as well, and the pair of Sesshomaru and Kaoru courted for nearly a year.

Now one year later, the pair wished to mate and Makoto wanted to back out of the deal, which irked Inutaisho greatly. He had always honored his word, and had always hoped Makoto would, but to back out at the last moment fully infuriated the Demon Lord of the West.

Arriving at the village, Inutaisho whispered to Iya "I will talk with Makoto alone. Do as you please till I'm done."

Nodding lightly, Iya continued to follow his father towards Makoto's hut. Arriving, they saw Makoto standing outside with a smile on his face.

Bowing lightly, Makoto said "Lord Inutaisho, it is a pleasure to see you once more."

"I'm not here for pleasantries." Inutaisho snapped. "I wish to speak with you over the scroll you sent me last night."

"As I knew you would, my lord." Makoto calmly replied. Motioning for the hut, he said "Please, come in, and we'll discuss the contents of it."

Stepping in, Inutaisho vanished into the hut followed by Makoto, leaving Iya alone outside. Turning and leaving, Iya began walking around the village, seeing familiar people he had known his entire life.

Remembering back to when he had first come to the village, he remembered how many of the people feared him more than his father or brother due that he was half human and not full demon. Due to his father, many kept quiet, but he did hear the whispers about him. Eventually, he had made friends with the children of the village, which didn't judge him like some adults. As Iya grew up, so did they, and all remained friends. When he had a chance after coming back from a patrol, he usually came down to visit his friends. He didn't get to very often, but still he tried.

Sesshomaru had met Kaoru the same way, and the two had immediately felt a kinship. Eventually, the two took the next step, with them deciding to court. Over time, the pair fell deeply in love with one another. Now they were prepared to take the last step in the courtship ritual, which consisted of them mating.

Iya softly smiled at the thought of having Kaoru as Sesshomaru's mate. He had met Kaoru while very young and knew her well, and the pair had become good friends. When Sesshomaru couldn't be with her, he came to see her and talk with her. He felt nothing but friendship for the girl, which he told a furious Sesshomaru once when he had found the pair alone and talking. Sesshomaru from then on accepted their friendship and was happy Iya was around to help protect her when he wasn't.

Noting he hadn't seen Kaoru, Iya sniffed around to find her scent. After a while, he finally picked it up on the outskirts of the village near the stream. Moving towards her position, he also picked up the scent of salt and another scent that he had remembered from a younger age that had shamed him greatly. Increasing his speed, he finally found Kaoru sitting under a sakura tree and crying heavily into her hands.

Moving to her side, Iya sat down and took Kaoru into his arms. She quickly realized it was him and sobbed heavily into his kimono. Feeling somewhat helpless, Iya did all he could to comfort her and let her cry herself out. Gently, he rubbed small circles on her back.

Lightly, he cooed to her, saying "There, there, I'm here now."

Finally, Kaoru calmed down a bit and looked up at him with eyes that seemed to hide a broken spirit and were red and puffy. "Iya… I can't…"

"Kaoru, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" Iya asked softly.

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, with her sobbing out "I… I betrayed Sesshomaru's love."

Somewhat shocked, Iya asked firmly "What do you mean? What happened?"

"I didn't want to, but father, he made me. He forced me to." she sobbed out miserably.

Confused, Iya said with bewilderment in his voice "Kaoru, you're not making since. Tell me, what did your father do, and how have you betrayed Sesshomaru?"

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru finally gathered herself together and slowly said "Last night, when I came home after meeting Sesshomaru, I found father talking with two men. One was an elder man and the other his son. Father had set up a meeting with the two to discuss marrying me to the son. I tried to stop father, but he silenced me. He and the elder man came to an agreement and decided to have me marry the son. The pair then left and I argued with my father afterwards, telling him Lord Inutaisho would be most angry with him, and I was most angry with him for trying to do this. I confessed that I loved Sesshomaru, and that we were to mate today."

Tears rolled down her cheeks when Kaoru added "This morning, early, father woke me up and had me dress in a special kimono. I didn't know why, but he told me to. I obeyed and we went to the shrine. When we arrived, the elder man and his son were there. The priest, he married us… I tried to object, but the priest ignored me. After the marriage ceremony was over, the young man dragged me away kicking and screaming to the woods, where…"

Sobbing heavily, she threw herself up against Iya and cried even harder than before. Iya understood what she was going to say, and knew it without her telling him. Her scent told him of what the young man had done, which enraged him greatly.

A few minutes later, she finally pulled back and slowly said "He forced me, Iya… I tried so hard to stop him, but he made me commit the sin. Sesshomaru will never have me now."

Crying even harder, she fell to the ground, miserably saying into the air "I'm so sorry…"

Iya felt his heart break at the sight, but his inner rage stirred too. "Kaoru, stay here, and I'll return soon for you. Please, trust me." Iya calmly said through gritted teeth. "I shall try to make this right."

Raising up, Kaoru slightly nodded, but instantly fell back to the ground crying. No longer able to stay there any longer, Iya stood and slowly walked away. Once a distance away, he broke into a dead heated run, flying straight for the village.

Arriving at Makoto's hut, he burst through the wooden door, sending splinters showering within the hut, instantly making Inutaisho and Makoto jump. Seeing Makoto, Iya snarled loudly and charged towards him with claws raised and prepared to strike him dead.

Before he could even lay a claw on Makoto, Inutaisho had Iya restrained and angrily yelled "What the hell is the matter with you Iya!?"

"That bastard, that's what is wrong with me!" Iya snarled loudly and struggled against his father's hold.

"Stop this!" Inutaisho ordered, making Iya somewhat stop. "What are you talking about Iya?"

"That bastard, he forced Kaoru into a marriage this morning! He let someone rape his daughter, and he doesn't give a damn!" Iya fiercely accused.

Shocked, Inutaisho turned to Makoto, growling out "Is this true!? Did you force Kaoru into a marriage this morning!?"

Sneering, Makoto smugly replied "My daughter is no longer your concern, Lord Inutaisho. She is now married, hence our agreement for our children is null."

Growling deeply, Inutaisho coldly said "Iya, go outside and wait for me."

Knowing the tone of voice his father gave him was not one to disobey, Iya nodded. Once freed from his father's grasp, he calmly walked outside and towards where Kaoru had been.

Alone once more, Inutaisho glared at Makoto and angrily declared "You planned this."

"But of course, Lord Inutaisho." Makoto smugly remarked.

Suppressing his anger the best he could, Inutaisho slowly asked "Why have you betrayed me?"

"Betraying you was not something I wished to do Lord Inutaisho, but I will not have my family line muddled up with demon blood, even if it is blood of an heir to the Western Lands. I was simply protecting my assets, while increasing my own at the same time." Makoto explained.

Eyes flickering with red, Inutaisho tried desperately to regain his composure. Anger swelled within him, threatening to burst out at any moment. Finally quelling his rage, Inutaisho coldly said "Makoto, this village is no longer under the Western Lands protection."

Stunned, Makoto quickly asked "Lord Inutaisho, why are you withdrawing your protection from us!? Our village does not have the ability to fight demons on our own! Why, why do you withdraw our only chance to stay safe now!?"

"Your greed and treachery has brought this upon your village. For your transgressions that you have committed, your people shall suffer." Inutaisho coldly replied.

Preparing to leave, Inutaisho stopped and turned back towards Makoto, saying "If this village is attacked, I will not lift one claw to protect it. No one within the Western Lands will defend you. This is your punishment for betraying your word and honor."

Turning back around, Inutaisho left a shocked Makoto alone within the hut and headed towards the edge of the village. Finding Iya's scent, he followed it to the nearby stream and found Iya comforting a still crying Kaoru. His anger instantly melted away upon seeing the girl and felt sadness for her.

"Kaoru." he softly called out, gaining both Iya's and Kaoru's attention.

The pair stood up to face Inutaisho, in which he softened his look towards her. "Kaoru, I am truly sorry for what your father has done. Had I known he would do such a despicable thing, I'd have had Sesshomaru bring you to the Western Stronghold last night. I am truly sorry for not realizing your father had such evil plans in stored for you."

Deeply sighing, he added "If you manage to have your marriage annulled, you are more than welcome to come live at the Western Stronghold, regardless of whether Sesshomaru will still accept you or not. You are a friend to Iya, and I find you to be a kind and compassionate girl, hence I hold no grudge or ill feelings towards you."

Nodding lightly, Kaoru lowly mumbled "Lord Inutaisho, I ask of a favor."

"Yes, what is it Kaoru?"

"Please, have Sesshomaru meet me at our usual meeting spot tonight. Tell him not to come expecting to take his mate, but to talk. For what has happened, I will try to make amends to him and apologize." Kaoru brokenly said.

Sighing, Inutaisho nodded. "I shall do so."

Walking forward, he softly embraced Kaoru, whispering in her ear "Do not blame yourself. Your father is to blame, not you."

Pulling back, Inutaisho said "Iya, come."

Turning to Kaoru, Iya embraced her and kissed her cheek. "I will try to fix this, I swear it." Iya vowed.

"Thank you…" Kaoru mumbled softly.

Backing away, Iya followed his father back towards the Western Stronghold. Along the way, Inutaisho remained quiet, leaving Iya feeling the awkward silence.

Halfway home, Iya finally broke the silence, asking "Father, what happened with Makoto?"

Sighing lightly, Inutaisho stopped in his tracks and turned to Iya. "He said he refused to allow his family line to become muddled with demon blood, and that he was protecting his assets while increasing them by having Kaoru marry a human."

"He is a true fool!" Iya spat angrily. "If Kaoru had mated with Sesshomaru, he would have benefited far more than any mere human could have given him."

"I agree." Inutaisho mumbled. "But his transgressions were great, so I was left with no choice. I took the village's protection away."

Completely unprepared for those words, Iya nearly fell over in shock. Staring hard at his father, he asked "Father, why punish the whole village for Makoto's foolishness!?"

"My reasoning is quite simple Iya." Inutaisho began. "Once the villagers find out that Makoto broke his word to me, they will lose faith in him. And also, once they learn that he is the reason the village is no longer protected by the Western Lands, they will appeal to the council to remove Makoto as headman of the village. Upon removing him, they will elect a new one, at which time, I will reinstate the protection."

Pausing for a moment and allowing Iya to process the information, Inutaisho asked "Do you understand Iya?"

"I suppose, but I'm worried that the village will be attacked before the council removes Makoto. If that happens, a lot of innocent people could be lost." Iya mumbled.

"I know my son." Inutaisho sympathetically said. "Those people, the villagers, some you've known since you were a child. Some you grew up with. If you lost them, I know it would hurt. I don't wish to do this, but to remove Makoto from power, I must do this."

Sighing, Iya nodded and responded with "I understand father."

"Good. In the meantime, I have a request to make of you." Inutaisho calmly said.

Seeing Iya was listening, he continued on and said "I wish for you to remain near the village tonight. I know Sesshomaru will not take losing Kaoru lightly, and I have no idea how he'll react. Stay near the village, and make sure he does nothing foolish. Once he has left, return home."

"Very well father, I shall do as you command." Iya replied.

Turning away and walking back towards the village, Iya silently went into the deeper parts of the woods and to a position where he'd be downwind.

Watching his son walk off, Inutaisho deeply sighed and glanced up at the sky. "I only hope Sesshomaru takes this well…" he mumbled to himself.

That said, he began his journey back to the Western Stronghold, hoping Sesshomaru would understand.


	13. Chapter 13: Past Betrayl, Pt 2

Chapter 13

**Hey everyone! Well, this week has been a total washout weather wise, which kind of sucks, but oh well, lol. Work has been hectic, with me having meetings 4 days of this week thus far. I had an hour one Monday, a 2 hour one Tuesday, and two yesterday, one being an hour and a half, the other another hour, giving me a total of 2 ½ hours yesterday. Today I have another at noon for another hour, so fun fun, lol.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along once more. I have plenty of ideas for this story, but I continue to swap between this one and my Yugioh GX story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. One day I'll finish one or the other, then it'll be full steam ahead for the other.**

**Wow, I got a few adds to peoples favs, which is cool. Thanks to everyone for that, also for the add to alerts. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed this chapter. I appreciate it. So, I think it's time to answer those reviews.**

**Sakura Lisel: LOL! Well, I suppose Iya and Inutaisho could have took her back with them, but she wished to talk with Sesshomaru alone. Dragging her home with them to Sesshomaru may not have been the best decision at the time. After all, she needed time to think, as well as decide what to say to Sesshomaru. Besides, she is a part of the village, so taking her away from it wouldn't be very right. I'm sure if she asked them to take her with them, they would have, but she wishes to remain for now. Does that explain it? I hope so, lol. It's just complicated, hehe. Thanks for your review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yeah, it was kind of a sad chapter. Poor Sesshomaru indeed. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's it for this time around. Thank you both for your reviews. I enjoy reading them. Btw, to anyone who does wish to review, feel free to. Not like I'll bite… very hard. Lol, but seriously, if you wish to post some comments, questions, etc, feel free. I'll do my best to answer it the best I can without revealing the plot to everyone. For now though, I have to update my other story, so I must end this session. I hope that you all like this next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

Late that evening, Kaoru sat under the sakura tree that she and Sesshomaru always met at solemnly. Off in the distance, Iya sat downwind, watching her and could smell the fear and sadness emanating from the girl's scent. If not for the fact Iya wanted her to talk with Sesshomaru alone, he would have run to the girl and comforted her, but he knew better since Sesshomaru was coming soon.

Hearing something, Iya looked up to see Sesshomaru walking towards the meeting place. Crouching down and hiding his demonic aura, Iya patiently watched as his brother approached the one he claimed to love.

Looking up at Sesshomaru, Kaoru sadly smiled. Standing up, she bowed lightly to him and said "Good evening Sesshomaru."

Silence was Sesshomaru's response, making Kaoru lightly grimace at what he thought of her. Falling to her knees, she bowed down onto her hands and miserably said "I'm so sorry Sesshomaru. You have to believe me, I never wanted what my father forced me to do. He made me marry this morning, and then the man I was bound to raped me…"

Tears began pouring down her cheeks with her head face down as she sobbed out "I tried so hard to fight back, but I wasn't strong enough. I wanted to be yours and yours alone, but now I can't be that. I'm so sorry, I am truly so sorry."

Looking up at him with tears still flowing, she added "I will have my marriage annulled, and then, if you'll still have me, we can mate."

"Why would this Sesshomaru want a wench like you?" Sesshomaru coldly stated.

Shocked, Kaoru sat back on her knees and lightly shook her head in shock. "But Sesshomaru…"

"You will not speak to this Sesshomaru that way." he coldly remarked. "Address me by my title, wench."

Stunned thoroughly, Kaoru mumbled "I'm so sorry Sesshomaru. I tried…"

"You should have tried harder, or left the village." he reprimanded.

A touch of anger in her voice, Kaoru growled out "I did all I could to escape him! I fought as hard as I could, but he was too strong! Besides, I wouldn't have gotten far before they found me!"

"You are a liar." Sesshomaru coldly stated. "To think, this Sesshomaru wanted to mate with such a weak, disgusting human."

Standing up, Kaoru angrily yelled "Sesshomaru, what is wrong with you!? You told me you'd always love me, no matter what! I want to be with you! I've always wanted to be, you know that! Why are you acting so cold about this!?"

"Do not address this Sesshomaru like that again!" he yelled and slapped Kaoru hard across the face. Upon doing that, he busted her lip, making a trickle of blood begin to flow and tears at the same time fall from her eyes. She reached up, feeling her skin, finding it burning to her touch.

Backing away, Kaoru shook her head roughly and her whole body trembled with fear. "I… I…" she stuttered in complete shock.

Bursting out of his hiding spot, Iya landed in front of Kaoru and angrily yelled "What the hell is wrong with you Sesshomaru!? That is the woman you wanted to mate with! I know you're angry, but it wasn't her fault!"

"Move **half breed**!" Sesshomaru hissed.

Instantly, Iya ears drooped and he stared down at the ground. Looking back up fiercely, he slowly said "All of my life, you never once called me that name. That name, hearing it from you, it's far worse than any wound I've ever received."

Moving into a fighting stance, Iya growled out "You will not harm Kaoru! She trusted you, and loved you with her whole heart! For you to betray her heart like that by harming her, that is unforgivable!"

Closing his eyes momentarily, Sesshomaru reopened them, revealing a pair of cold golden eyes that Iya had never seen. "Very well little brother, so be it." Sesshomaru calmly said.

Glancing over his shoulder, Iya yelled "Kaoru, run for the village!"

"But Iya…" she began, only to have Iya yell "GO! I'll stop him, but you have to get out of here!"

Hesitantly, Kaoru turned and ran, leaving the brothers alone. "I don't know what got into you Sesshomaru, but I'll knock it out." Iya smartly remarked.

With blinding speed, Sesshomaru vanished before Iya's eyes, only to reappear beside of him. Swinging hard, Sesshomaru knocked Iya away with a strong backhand into the nearby sakura tree. Iya crashed hard into it, snapping it in half and sending him sailing into a few other trees before finally falling to the ground.

Iya weakly tried to stand, but failed miserably and fell back to the ground and passed out, leaving Sesshomaru to walk away silently towards the village.

--

Lightly groaning, Iya's muddy brown colored eyes slowly opened to find it dark out. After a minute, his eyes adjusted and he gradually began to sit up. Touching the back of his head, he felt some dried blood on his scalp and noted he had a large headache.

Glancing around, his last moments of consciousness rushed back to him. "Kaoru…" he weakly murmured while standing up.

On his feet once more, he began looking around and saw no one was nearby. Glancing off in the direction of the village, he saw smoke and flames. "No, the village…" he mumbled while stumbling off in the direction of the village.

While slowly walking towards the village, he caught the scent of Kaoru, and then the scent of her blood along with Sesshomaru's scent. Growling lowly, Iya attempted to increase his speed, only to find he couldn't.

Finally making it to where the village once stood, Iya gasped in complete shock at the sight before him. All of the huts, those that still stood, were burnt down and smoldering. Bodies of the villagers that he had known his entire life lay littered across the village grounds, many with numerous claw or whip marks across their bodies.

Struggling to keep moving, Iya reached the center of the village to find Sesshomaru sitting on the ground with a bloodied body wrapped up in his arms. Iya immediately recognized the kimono and the fading scent to be Kaoru's. Nearby, what was left of Makoto's body was seen. A majority of it was already dissolved by a pool of acid that Sesshomaru had released onto the man, making Iya believe Sesshomaru had left the man to die a rather cruel death.

Cautiously, Iya approached Sesshomaru, only to pick up the sound of sobbing. Walking up to his brother, he looked down to find Sesshomaru with tears in his golden eyes. Glancing at Kaoru, he saw that she was dead and the tears of Sesshomaru were falling on her face.

Looking up at Iya with tears still flowing, Sesshomaru mumbled "She's dead… she's dead…"

Deeply sighing, Iya asked "Why Sesshomaru, why did you kill them all?"

"They deserved to die." Sesshomaru flatly remarked with the last of his tears falling. "They betrayed their word and took the one thing I cared about away from me. For that, I took the one thing they all clung to away from them: life."

"Sesshomaru, that doesn't justify taking their lives." Iya replied with a tint of anger showing in his voice. "They were already being punished for Makoto's actions. Father took away the village's protection, and they would have thrown Makoto out soon."

Deeply sighing, Iya's voice softened as he added "Kaoru, she still loved you deeply and had hopes of making things right. She wanted to desperately be with you. Now she can never be with you ever again."

Releasing Kaoru's bloodied body, Sesshomaru stood up and used his sleeve to wipe his face clean. Turning to Iya, he showed cold eyes and an emotionless face. "This Sesshomaru no longer cares for humans, and this Sesshomaru no longer holds love in his heart for you, little brother."

Staring in the direction of the Western Stronghold, Sesshomaru returned his gaze towards Iya and coldly said "What happened here today, you are sworn to a vow of secrecy."

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I BOTHER TO LISTEN TO YOU!? YOU JUST KILLED THE WHOLE VILLAGE!!" Iya yelled with great anger permeating from his body.

"This Sesshomaru has the right to do so is why. You will listen to this Sesshomaru."

Deeply growling, Iya roughly spat out "I'll agree, only if you tell father what happened here. I will be there to make sure you do."

"This Sesshomaru shall do so." Sesshomaru calmly remarked. Turning away, he slowly walked away, leaving Iya alone with the numerous dead bodies.

Moving to look at Kaoru's fallen form, Iya gently picked her up and held her tight. Tears slid down his face as he miserably said "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to stop him… You deserved a far better end."

Setting her body back down, Iya glanced around and found a level plot of land. Finding a shovel nearby, he began digging out a series of graves to bury his former friends and comrades.

--

It was late that night when Iya finally walked into the Western Stronghold. Inutaisho instantly ran to his son upon seeing his return, but gasped at his appearance.

"Iya, what happened!?" Inutaisho questioned. Glancing his body over, he added "Why are you covered in dirt and the scent of death? And what happened to your head, is that blood in your hair!?"

Looking off in the distance to where Sesshomaru stood leaning against the wall, Iya pointed an angry clawed finger at his brother and snapped out "Ask Sesshomaru."

Confused, Inutaisho looked to his elder son with a look of bewilderment. "Sesshomaru?"

--

"Sesshomaru told father the entire story, not leaving out a single detail. After that point, father and Sesshomaru never got along very well. The same could be said about me and Sesshomaru I suppose also." Iya dejectedly said.

"So that's why he's so cold…" Inuyasha mumbled with understanding.

Nodding lightly, Iya lightly said "He replaced his love for Kaoru after that with a lust for power. I suppose in a way, he was looking for a way to learn to protect what he cared about, but at the same time, his lust pushed everything he cared about away. With the loss of Kaoru, he became far colder and detached from the world. We've never been close again since that time. I doubt we ever will till the ice around his heart melts."

"Still, to have killed the woman he loved, that was cold." Inuyasha mumbled.

Sighing, Iya nodded once more and quietly said "Kaoru was everything to him. I still don't understand why Sesshomaru snapped and killed her, along with her village. Her father, Makoto, I could have understood. I myself wished to kill him that day, but I didn't thanks to father."

Pausing for a moment, Iya softly smiled and added "Still, there is a sign that Sesshomaru's cold heart is melting. The ice is still there, but it's weakening."

"How so? The bastard nearly killed me, has killed lots of innocent humans and demons, and is still a pompous jackass." Inuyasha growled out.

Lightly chuckling at Inuyasha's description of Sesshomaru, Iya smiled at his brother. "Have you not noticed the small changes in Sesshomaru, Inuyasha?"

Frowning, Inuyasha shook his head and replied "He's the same jackass he's always been to me."

Chuckling once more, Iya softly said "He's changing Inuyasha. Rin, the girl that travels with him, is melting the icy confines of his heart. You may not have noticed it, but I have. Sesshomaru has hated humans for two and half centuries, but now he has one as a ward, which made no sense to me when I heard of it at first."

Softly smiling, Iya added "Sesshomaru's heart is starting to warm up. That girl, Rin, she is unthawing the anger and hatred that he built up for humans. True, he may still hate almost all humans, but in Rin, he's found something that keeps him from killing her. Maybe it's due that she favors Kaoru's looks a bit, or that when he saw Rin, he felt the guilt of killing Kaoru and decided to make things right. Whatever his reasoning may be, he is slowly changing back to the way he once was. It's slow, but I can see it happening."

"Feh…" Inuyasha muttered, earning a small chuckle from Iya.

Leaping down out of the tree, Iya called up it, saying "We'd better get back. I'm sure Ichigo won't like that we were gone for so long."

Gingerly climbing down, Inuyasha landed on the ground and the pair walked towards the village once more. Arriving, the pair found Ichigo leaning against the same tree with his eyes closed and softly snoring.

"Figures, he fell asleep." Inuyasha muttered and walked over to kick Ichigo.

Shocking Inuyasha, Ichigo stood up with his sword pointed at Inuyasha's neck and smirked, mockingly asking "You were saying?"

Stuffing his hands in his sleeves, Inuyasha muttered "Feh!"

Chuckling at the pair, Iya walked to the hut and gently called in "Lilly, Kaede?"

Walking out, Lilly softly smiled at Iya and asked "Yes?"

"How are they doing?" he asked.

"And how is Kagome!?" Inuyasha asked with concern from behind Iya.

Warmly smiling, Lilly replied "Everyone is doing alright for now. No one has transformed since you two left. Rin is starting to show signs of being close to transforming, but she's not yet. As for the others, they're fine. I think Kagome will wake up soon too. She seems to be much calmer than she was."

"Can I see her?" Inuyasha asked seemingly with a touch of impatience.

Softly smiling, Lilly nodded and moved out of his way, allowing Inuyasha to walk in, leaving Lilly and Iya outside. "How are you holding up?" Iya softly asked.

Smiling in return, Lilly rubbed her eyes lightly and said "I'll be fine. I'm slightly tired, but not bad."

"I'm sorry to have you do this." Iya apologized. "I can take over if you want."

"No, I'm fine." Lilly was quick to reply. "I don't mind helping them at all. Besides, it keeps my mind busy and off of what has been bothering me since earlier…"

Deeply sighing, Iya nodded and gingerly asked "The transformation, right?"

Frowning, Lilly replied lowly "Yes…"

"What happened to you isn't unnatural to some half demons." Iya calmly said. "In fact, when I was younger, I actually transformed a few times. The first time was unintentional, but the next few times my father was training me. He forced me to transform so that I could learn to use more of my demonic power. It helped out really in the end, but it altered my body a bit. I'm sort of in a transformed state now , which is the reason I look like I do with these demon markings."

Looking up at Iya's face, Lilly softly smiled. "I see, so that's why you have marks and your younger brother doesn't, right?"

"Yes, that's right. If Inuyasha transformed, I figure he would have the same markings as I do on his cheeks, or similar ones." Iya explained. Putting his hands on Lilly's shoulders, he added "Don't worry about earlier. You were wounded pretty badly, and your life was in danger from Kurama, so your demon nature kicked in. It happens to most half demons when they feel their life is in danger. Their demon blood grows strong enough to transform their bodies into a full demon state."

Sighing, Iya softly added with a touch of sadness "Unfortunately, when transformed, most lose all control of their self consciousness. They can't tell friend from foe, and attack anything that moves. They keep fighting till they're killed or somehow revert back to their previous form."

Turning away, Lilly timidly asked "Will… will I transform every time I fight and get hurt?"

Sighing once more, Iya spun Lilly around to look her in the face. Solemnly, he said "I can't lie to you, I don't honestly know. I've managed through life with only one transformation since my father taught me how to keep it in check. Also, Ketsaiga suppresses my demon blood, keeping me from getting out of control so long as I have it on or near me. Even if I was separated from it now, I think I could continue to suppress my demonic powers due to the training father gave me."

Looking up at the sky, Iya absently said "As for you, I'm not sure if you'll transform again. I know the mages have the power to suppress your demonic power, but till the binding spell is complete, they won't."

Turning his eyes back to Lilly, Iya softly smiled and added "For now, just be careful. I'm sure you'll be fine. I don't know if you'll transform again or not, but I'll do my best to keep you from it, and if you do, I'll help you back like before."

Warmly smiling back, Lilly mumbled "Thank you."

"Kagome!" the pair heard Inuyasha excitedly say inside the hut.

Both ran in to find Inuyasha hovering over Kagome's form. Moving to her other side, the pair saw her eyes slowly flutter open, revealing dark honey colored orbs. Slowly, the pair of eyes focused on the faces above her, but she closed her eyes once more and moaned lightly.

"Oh, my head hurts…" Kagome mumbled lightly before reopening her eyes and glancing at Inuyasha's face. "Inuyasha…"

"I'm here Kagome! Are you alright!? Do you need anything!?" he asked hurriedly and with a touch of concern.

Eyes focusing on his face, Kagome softly smiled and said "I'm so happy you're alright. Before I passed out, I remembered you were hit by the Wind Scar…"

"I'm fine Kagome. What about you?" Inuyasha worriedly asked.

Slightly twitching her ears, Kagome mumbled "I feel… different. What happened to me?"

Deeply sighing, Iya gently said "Kagome, the person you and Inuyasha met in the woods, that was one of the mages. His name was…"

"Kurama…" Kagome mumbled, finishing Iya's sentence. "He, he cast that spell you told us about, didn't he? The one to transform me into a half demon…"

Hiding his eyes under his bangs, Iya lightly nodded and replied "Yes… He cast his spell on you and transformed you into a half demon."

Lightly frowning, Kagome asked "What kind?"

"A half dog demon…" Iya replied lowly.

Slowly, Kagome tried to sit up, only to have Inuyasha concernedly say "Kagome, don't move. You're still weak!"

"I feel fine Inuyasha, really." Kagome sharply remarked. Gently, she sat up and looked at her new clawed hands and wiggled her fingers. Reaching up on top of her head, she felt her new dog ears and softly giggled.

"What the hell are you giggling at?" Inuyasha gruffly asked.

Giving him a smile with her new fangs, she said "I always wondered what it would be like to have dog ears like yours."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha watched as she stood up. Kagome instantly noticed something was behind her and reached behind herself to feel a tail. Turning to look she lightly chuckled, saying "Figures that I'd get a poodles tail."

Frowning lightly, Kagome looked to Iya and Inuyasha and asked "Why don't you two have tails?"

"What!?" both brothers said in unison.

Indignantly, Iya replied "I never had a tail."

"Neither did I." Inuyasha gruffly added.

Chuckling, Lilly pointed to her own tail, saying "Don't feel bad Kagome, I have a tail too."

"Yeah, but yours is long and movable. Mine just probably wags and shakes." Kagome pouted.

"I don't believe it, you're more upset about you're freaking tail than the fact you were transformed!" Inuyasha growled out with frustration.

Turning to glare at Inuyasha, Kagome growled out "Sit boy!"

Instantly, Inuyasha dropped to the ground with a rough pull from the prayer beads around his neck. His face instantly met the wooden floor, making him cry out lightly in pain.

Both Lilly and Iya chuckled at Inuyasha's misfortune before he finally was released from the subduing spell. Quickly getting up, he angrily growled at Kagome, saying "Quit doing that!"

"Then quit being a jerk!" Kagome huffed with her hands firmly planted on her hips.

"Maybe if you'd quit being such a b…"

"SIT BOY!"

Once more, Inuyasha's face slammed hard into the wood floor, making the hut shake lightly. "How dare you call me that Inuyasha!" Kagome venomously spat at him.

With a deep mumble, he said "I was just going to say a baby, sheesh!"

Realization hit Kagome's face upon hearing his last word wasn't what she thought it was, making her anger fade away and her expression soften. Bending down, she offered a friendly hand and lowly whispered "I'm sorry…"

"Feh…" was the only response Inuyasha gave and smacked her hand away. Standing on his own, he hobbled out of the hut.

Looking down, Kagome felt tears starting to come into her eyes. "I shouldn't have done that… I forgot he was still wounded." she mumbled.

"It's alright Kagome. He'll cool off." Iya calmly said. "For now, the real question is, are you alright?"

Calming down, Kagome sighed deeply and said "I feel fine. Even though I'm a half demon, I feel alright. Really, in a way, I've kind of always wanted to be a half demon so I could understand Inuyasha a bit better. It is kind of odd though…"

Taking a sniff, she frowned and added "It's really odd to smell so many new things, to see so much more clearly, and to hear so much more than before. I'm guessing my taste is the same way, and my touch."

"It'll take a bit of getting used to, but you'll do it, I'm sure." Lilly kindly remarked. "I'm still very new to it, and it's so different from being human."

"You'll both make it, I know it." Iya commented. "Just be careful for the time being."

Both nodded at Iya's comment, with Kagome adding "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. For now, I think I'm going out to stand guard. You three should get some rest." Iya remarked.

Kagome and Lilly were about to argue, but Kaede interceded, saying "Aye, we should rest. It will be a long night if they transform."

Seeing the wisdom behind Kaede's words, both Kagome and Lilly sighed and nodded. Softly smiling at the trio as he walked out of the hut, Iya calmly said "Good night."

Going outside, Iya saw Inuyasha had taken up residence in a nearby tree and was sulking. Noting Ichigo was leaning up against the same tree, but at the ground level, Iya lightly sighed and leapt up into the same tree to a higher branch. Leaning up against it, he slowly closed his eyes, hoping to get a bit of sleep.

--

A few hours later, a single cry of pain cut through the silence surrounding the single hut, instantly waking Iya, Inuyasha, and Ichigo. Leaping quickly out of the tree, Iya rushed towards the hut, only to be cut off by Sesshomaru, who came out of nowhere and burst into the hut.

Walking in, Iya saw Sesshomaru at Rin's side with a look of worry crossing his usually emotionless face. Noting Kagome, Lilly, and Kaede was already at her side as well, he walked over to see Rin's body starting to glow with a light blue aura.

Slowly, her body began lifting up off of her futon and a few feet above the ground. Her face scrunched up with pain when her teeth sharpened into fangs. Her toes instantly grew small claws where her toenails were, and her fingernails sharpened into claws as well. Bit by bit, her ears vanished and were replaced on the top of her head by two cone like ears that looked like a dog's, but not quite. Next, her body toned some with her muscles increasing in strength. At long last, a black dog like tail that was straight with fur on it came out from her shift.

Finally, her transformation was complete and her body slowly floated back down to the bed, where she laid still while panting lightly. Taking in her scent, Iya sighed and said "Just as I figured."

"What is she?" Kagome asked with confusion. "Is she a half dog demon like me?"

Shaking his head, Iya was about to respond when Sesshomaru stoically said "She is a half wolf demon."

"Wolf? How can you tell? She looks like a dog really." Kagome commented.

For her comment, Kagome earned a golden eye cold glare from Sesshomaru, who immediately returned his eyes to Rin. Interceding, Iya said "Kagome, she's a wolf, we're sure of it. Her scent, along with her looks tell us that much. Her ears are shaped differently from yours, along with her tail. Also, I'm certain she's a wolf due that Ichimaru has a taste for them."

Glaring with an irked look at Iya, Sesshomaru growled out "You knew what she would be!?"

Sighing lightly, Iya nodded and said "Yes, I knew since Ichimaru had attacked her that she'd be a half wolf demon."

Grunting indignantly, Sesshomaru asked "What will happen to this Sesshomaru's ward now?"

"She'll sleep for another ten or so hours. Now that the transformation is over, she'll be resting peacefully." Iya remarked.

Glaring at Iya, Sesshomaru calmly said "Do not hold any further information from this Sesshomaru."

Iya only shrugged, which in response, Sesshomaru walked out of the hut and leaned up against the side of the hut near the door. Sighing in response to Sesshomaru's leaving, Iya turned to the three remaining in the hut.

"The others should start changing before dawn. Once they've transformed, things should calm down till Rin wakes up." he calmly said.

Kaede, Kagome, and Lilly all three nodded in response and went back to where they had been resting previously. Turning silently, Iya walked back outside and leapt up into the tree he, Inuyasha, and Ichigo had been using to sleep in. Reaching his spot once more, Iya settled in up against the butt of the tree and slowly closed his eyes while all of his senses remained on high alert.


	14. Chapter 14: Awakening

Chapter 14

**Hey there everyone! Well, not much new here, other than the temperatures. It's been in the 70's and yesterday, it was in the 80's. It's kind of freaky weather for my area, at least to me. Usually we only hit the 60's or so, but this week it's been in the 70's most of it thus far. Not that I'm complaining, but it does kind of irritate my allergies when it gets warm rather fast.**

**Well, I'm still making progress on this story in writing. I hope to have a few more chapters written soon so I can return my attention to my other fic. That is my hope, lol, but may not happen. We'll see.**

**Thank you all for the reviews from last time. I liked reading them, and now I'll go ahead and answer them!**

**tenten-chan: True, Sesshomaru couldn't put the full blame on Kaoru for the forced marriage, but he was angry obviously and blamed her for it. I never did mention how much Inutaisho told him… In my mind, he probably told him that Kaoru had been forced into a marriage, but she wished to meet with him. I probably should have written that exchange out. Oh well, lol. But I believe that Sesshomaru, just due to how Sesshomaru is, would have felt betrayed and been angry at Kaoru more than anyone else. After all, to him, she was going to be his mate and had faith that she'd be able to protect herself to a minimum. Still, he didn't accept that and killed her off. But yes, she didn't willingly marry or consort to sex, but Sesshomaru didn't care about it. Like I said, he felt betrayed, and when one is betrayed, you sometimes do things you may regret. I hope that helps a bit. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yeah, Rin was killed by wolves and now is a half wolf. I thought that would be a bit ironic, lol. LOL! Yes, Sesshomaru has proved that he cares a lot about Rin. She is someone he wishes to protect, although he'd never admit it, I'm sure. Yes, I think obsessed describes you, lol. Joking of course. Yep, Naraku is nearly finished off in the manga. I can't wait to see what happens in it. Thanks for the review!**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: Thank you. True, now that Kagome and Inuyasha are half demons, perhaps they will get closer. Heh, it would be rather convenient if she stayed that way I suppose. Thanks again for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this round of reviews. I hope I answered everyone's questions, comments, etc. to their liking. I try and be helpful when I receive any of the above, except for revealing plot. I hate to do that. It ruins a story really, lol. Anyways, I hope you all continue to review. I love to answer them!**

**In the meantime, till next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 14**

Nearly an hour before dawn, Iya, along with Sesshomaru, Ichigo, and Inuyasha all awoke to the sound of multiple cries of pain. Yawning lightly, Iya sat up from his perch in the tree he slept in and leapt to the ground, followed soon by Inuyasha who nearly fell over from the pain of landing. Walking to the hut, the two brothers walked by their elder brother silently into a room filled with painful cries.

Looking around, Iya saw Lilly was attending to Sango while Kagome checked in on Miroku. Kaede took a look at Kohaku and attempted to keep him calm.

All three slowly began floating off the ground soon enough, with each having a different color aura flaring up around their bodies, with Sango's a shade of brown; Miroku's a shade of gold; and Kohaku's a shade of olive.

Sango and Miroku's bodies began to transform first, with each of them clenching their jaws while fangs grew in. Sango's hair instantly turned mostly silver with a few strips of brown remaining, and Miroku's turned to a bright orange-red color with some black streaks left over and grew longer till it reached his butt and somewhat looked like Inuyasha's hair in length, except not as thick. The pairs' hands each then grew sharp claws, and their feet grew sharp claws as well. Soon enough, both lost their human ears and in exchange, Sango gained silver fuzzy cone shaped ears while Miroku gained red fuzzy cone shaped ears. Each of their bodies toned and their skin stretched and refitted the pairs new looks. Lastly, both grew tails, with Sango having a long silver one and Miroku gaining a long red one.

Meanwhile, Kohaku's body was surrounded by flames, instantly incinerating his clothing and hair band. His hair changed to a red color with a few brown streaks left. His body toned some, but it mostly remained the same. Finally, the flames died down, revealing his nude body.

The three finally lowered back down onto their futons and came to rest. Kaede remained calm while looking over Kohaku, while both Lilly and Kagome each turned away with their faces a shade of deep red.

"What is wrong with ye girls? It tis only what he was gifted with." Kaede admonished, making both Kagome and Lilly blush even deeper than before.

Covering Kohaku up quickly, Kaede motioned for Iya, who came closer while trying to stifle a chuckle at Lilly and Kagome's faces. "Yes Kaede?" he asked while attempting to keep a straight face.

"What has happened to the lad?" she solemnly asked.

Looking Kohaku over, Iya remarked "He transformed into a half fire demon. The flames we saw were produced by his fire powers."

Motioning towards Miroku, Iya said "Miroku is now a half red fox demon."

"You mean a demon like me?" Shippou curiously asked.

Nodding in response, Iya smiled and replied "Yes, exactly like you Shippou. You'll have to train him to use his Fox Fire and other kitsune attacks."

"That shouldn't take long…" Inuyasha muttered lowly, which reached Kagome's twitching ears.

Glaring at Inuyasha, she sweetly said "Inuyasha…"

Hearing his name, Inuyasha worriedly turned towards her, only to hear her yell "SIT!"

Inuyasha instantly plummeted to the floor of the hut, sending out a small thud throughout the hut. He only grumbled while waiting for the subduing spell to wear off while Iya and the others lightly chuckled at him.

Regaining his composure, Iya motioned towards Sango, saying "Sango has become a half silver fox demon. Unlike Miroku, she will have power over plants, much like Kurama does."

Noting the three were now lightly panting, Kaede asked "Are they out of danger?"

"For now, yes. Till they wake up later today, they'll sleep. Once they awake though, we have thirty days to change them back. I'll explain it all once everyone is awake, and what I think we should do." Iya remarked.

Looking the resting half demons over once more, Iya lightly sighed and added "For now, we should rest ourselves. We have a long day ahead of us."

Inuyasha stood up from his subdued place and grumbled lightly before walking outside, soon followed by Iya. Finding Ichigo was still under the tree, seemingly asleep once more, Iya softly sighed and leapt back into the tree to his perch, much like Inuyasha. Glancing back at the hut, Iya saw Sesshomaru still leaning against it with his eyes open, but Iya knew better and guessed his brother was sleeping. Yawning himself, Iya pressed his back to the tree and slowly fell asleep while his senses remained alert.

--

Once the morning came, the entire group of half demons and the few demons, and Kaede, awoke and began the day. For the most part, Kaede, Lilly, and Kagome took care of the unconscious half demons while the others mostly waited. Kaede even changed Inuyasha's dressing on his wounds, remarking that he was healing nicely.

The day continued to drag on till a few hours past midday when Rin slowly began to stir. Sesshomaru was in the hut and to her side first before the others could even begin to react to her waking. Slowly, Rin's eyes cracked opened and scrunched up from the light of the day. Her eye color had changed like her looks, now sporting aqua colored ovals.

The first thing she saw was Sesshomaru's indifferent face and softly smiled and said in a small voice "Lord Sesshomaru…"

Instantly, she noted her voice sounded different and asked "What is wrong with my voice?"

Looking to the side of Sesshomaru, she saw Iya and Lilly, whom she barely recognized, but then she saw Kagome, which she barely recognized at all.

"Kagome, what happened to you?" she asked softly, still unsure of what had happened to her own voice.

"It's a long story Rin. I have a feeling you're going to be asking the same thing soon." Kagome kindly replied.

Frowning, Rin sat up and looked down at her body and saw she was wearing a white shift. She frowned at this, but heard a familiar voice say "Iya, leave."

Turning to Sesshomaru, Iya was about to argue when it occurred to him why his brother wished him to leave. Lightly blushing at this, Iya looked away and remarked "You too."

Grunting at the thought that Iya had expected him to stay, Sesshomaru wordlessly turned on his heals and walked out of the hut, but gave Iya a look that said leave. Lightly chuckling at it, Iya turned to Lilly and said "Get her those clothes and have her come out when she finishes dressing."

"Alright." Lilly agreed kindly.

Watching Iya walk out and leave her with the older women, Rin frowned. "Why did Lord Sesshomaru and Iya leave?"

Frowning, Kagome tried to find the words to express why the men had to go, but soon heard Lilly softly say "Rin, they had to leave because of you're a girl, and it's not nice for guys to look at girls when they dress."

Rin's brows furrowed at this, but she shrugged it off. She still didn't understand, but she accepted Lilly's reason for the time being. She then felt Lilly place a calming hand on her own hand. Looking down at her hand, Rin discovered and lightly panicked at the sight of the claws on her hand. "What… what happened to my hand!?" she frantically asked.

"It's alright Rin." Lilly soothingly said, trying hard to comfort the panicked girl. Sitting down beside of her, Lilly lightly embraced her, holding her while the girl felt hot tears begin running down her face. Pulling back, Lilly looked Rin in the face and sadly smiled.

"What was the last thing you remember Rin?" she softly asked the girl.

Quieting her tears for a moment, Rin thought hard and finally remembered the man with white hair appearing before her. "That man, with white hair, that Lord Sesshomaru fought with. Him and Lord Sesshomaru went off fighting, but he somehow reappeared behind me, Master Jaken, and Ah-Un. He knocked Master Jaken and Ah-Un out, and I was thrown from Ah-Un's saddle. The white haired man then appeared before me and began saying something that I didn't understand. Next thing I know, I was felt so tired and that's it."

Nodding with understanding, Lilly kindly said "Rin, what happened was that was a mage that attacked you. He's one of the ones Iya warned Sesshomaru about."

Frowning, Rin nodded and asked "Why did he attack me then?"

Trying hard to put it into words that Rin would understand, Lilly thought hard. Her thoughts were soon interrupted when Kagome sat down on Rin's other side, saying "Rin, that mage wanted to hurt Sesshomaru, and the only way he could was to hurt you. He cast a spell on you."

"A spell?" Rin asked curiously.

Nodding, Kagome replied "Yes a spell. It's a type of demon magic that turns humans into half demons, and binds them to the mages."

"But I don't want to leave Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin wailed instantly with fresh tears spilling.

"I know honey, but the mage wants you. Also, he not only turned you into a half demon, but aged you also. That's why your voice sounds different." Kagome remarked.

Looking deeply troubled, Rin looked up at Kagome and timidly asked "How… how much older am I?"

Softly smiling, Kagome looked at Rin from head to toe for a moment. "Hmm, if I had to guess, I'd say you're about eighteen."

"You look very beautiful by the way." Lilly warmly added.

Lightly blushing at the comment, Rin glanced at both Kagome and Lilly, and then asked "Kagome, why do you look similar to Inuyasha?"

Chuckling, Kagome smiled back and revealed her fangs, saying "That's because another mage cast a spell on me that turned me into a half dog demon like Inuyasha. The same thing happened to Lilly also, who is a half neko demon."

Standing up and brushing the wrinkles out of her skirt, Kagome added "And you Rin were turned into a half wolf demon."

"A half wolf?" Rin mumbled with a glum look on her face.

Remembering instantly that wolves had killed Rin, Kagome sat back down and embraced the younger woman, saying "I'm so sorry, I forgot that you don't like wolves."

"No, I'm just finding it a bit ironic is all." Rin replied, causing Kagome to release her embrace.

Chuckling lightly, Kagome nodded and said "I suppose it is a bit ironic that you are a wolf demon."

"Yeah…" Rin mumbled.

Standing up, Lilly brightly asked "How about we get you up and changed into some clothes Rin? I think Sesshomaru would like to see what you look like now, and to see you again in general."

Instantly perking up at the sound of Sesshomaru's name being mentioned, Rin nodded and immediately got out of bed.

--

Sitting up in the nearby tree, Iya softly sighed while watching for Rin to come out. After nearly thirty minutes, he was tired of waiting and decided to call in to see what in the world the girls were doing when suddenly Rin came out dressed in a set of red and white priestess robes and her hair pulled back into a pony tail. The girls had made a tail hole for her, allowing her tail to swish lightly while she walked out. Her ears perked at the new sounds of being outside, and her nose began picking up new scents, making her look around with amazement at her new senses.

Sesshomaru, who stood by the entrance of the hut, watched with patient eyes as she turned to him and smiled.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" she cried out happily and bowed to him.

He returned her bow with a curt nod and motioned for her to follow him. The pair walked quietly away from the group and the village into the nearby forest. Once satisfied with the distance, Sesshomaru asked "Rin, are you well?"

Looking to Sesshomaru with happy eyes, Rin nodded and replied "I'm fine Lord Sesshomaru."

"Are you alright with what has happened?" he asked.

Frowning lightly, Rin mumbled "I don't like what happened, but I'll deal with it."

Replacing her frown quickly with a smile, she happily added "At least now, Master Jaken won't be able to complain about me slowing him up."

"Indeed." Sesshomaru wistfully remarked. "Rin, you must learn to defend yourself. The mage that did this to you will return, and this Sesshomaru will make certain you are prepared if this Sesshomaru is tricked once more."

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin happily agreed.

Nodding at her, Sesshomaru remarked "We begin now."

--

Panting heavily, Ichigo glared at the dark haired man before him with sunglasses that stared back at him. He had numerous wounds covering his body while the dark haired man had yet to have one cut or scratch inflicted upon him.

"_Is this the extent of your power Ichigo?_" Zangetsu asked in a mocking tone.

Gripping the hilt of his transformed halberd with both hands, Ichigo growled loudly and lifted it up out of the ground and rushed in, swinging hard at Zangetsu, who only parried with a similar sword one handed, making it seem as if he was repelling Ichigo effortlessly.

"_Is that it?_" Zangetsu mocked.

Growling rather loudly, Ichigo's blue demonic aura began to flare up and he backed away. Advancing forward at near blinding speed, his sword clashed with Zangetsu's, sending out a shower of sparks. Like before, Zangetsu only parried one handed, but he was forced backwards a bit this time, making him smirk a slight bit.

Deciding to push Ichigo a little farther, Zangetsu asked "_You want to avenge Rukia, don't you Ichigo? Or do you want her memory to forever be tarnished by the mage that still walks the land?_"

Seeing a reaction crossing Ichigo's face, Zangetsu snidely added "_Perhaps you never truly loved her, seeing how you've yet to get strong enough to defeat Kenshin._"

Instantly, Ichigo pushed away from Zangetsu and stood with his eyes hidden by the shade of his bangs. Slowly raising his head up, he glared at Zangetsu and remembered the words of the man that had trained him and had gave him Zangetsu long ago.

It was during one of his training sessions with his master. His master, not that he liked to call him that, had been pushing him for ten days to learn to use Zangetsu. He had already mastered unsealing it's second form, the Shika form, but had yet to learn anything else on control of the sword. His master had done nothing but relentlessly push him, forcing Ichigo to eventually awaken his sword's power. It had been a one shot deal though, for he didn't know how to control it, and it had taken all his energy just to use that one blast, forcing him to pass out that day. Since then, his master had been pushing him hard, trying to get him to learn to use the technique again. It was between one of his battles with his master that his master said these words that rung through his head now.

"_I'm so disappointed Ichigo. So very disappointed. Sadly, your sword exhibits only fear. When you counter, it's because you fear being killed. When you attack, you fear killing. And when you try to protect someone, you fear you could let them die. At this point, the only thing that your sword speaks of is nothing but senseless fright, and that's not good. What you don't need in battle is fear. Nothing good will come of it._"

Smirking in his mind, he remembered what the man then said that was instilled into him and that gave him the true strength he needed to fight on.

"_When you counter, you don't let them cut you. If you protect someone, you don't let them die. When you attack, you kill. Understand? Can't you see the sheer resolve I have to kill you is reflected in my sword?_"

Those words rang clearly through Ichigo's mind, but then the last words Zangetsu had told him rang through. "_Perhaps you never truly loved her, seeing how you've yet to get strong enough to defeat Kenshin._"

Pulling his sword up onto his shoulder, Ichigo turned a cold hard glare at Zangetsu and took in a deep breath. His eyes flashed light blue, and his body began to be surrounded by a light blue demonic aura.

"I truly loved Rukia, and I will show you my pure resolve to avenge her." Ichigo calmly remarked.

Raising his sword up with his right arm, Ichigo's demonic aura began spilling out at an even faster rate, but it was calm and controlled. Dirt and dust circled around his body like a mini twister while his sword's aura began glowing brighter. The sword itself began to howl out with a cry that showed it's readiness to do battle.

Smirking at this, Zangetsu raised his own sword above his head and began calling out his own demonic aura. Mimicking Ichigo's sword, Zangetsu's sword began howling loudly and glowing fiercely with the same blue demonic aura.

Staring one another down, Zangetsu mockingly asked "_Can you do it this time Ichigo? Can you actually make me submit, or even scratch me?_"

Both demonic auras around the two began swirling even greater as Ichigo began pouring out more and more power. Zangetsu smirked at this and cried out "_Come, show me what you can do Ichigo!_"

Simultaneously, the pair swung their swords downwards hard at the ground, sending out a huge wave of white shimmering energy at one another. The shimmering energies struck one another, forming a large dome around the two and sending out a huge cloud of dust and debris.

Slowly, the dust settled, revealing a still standing Ichigo, who was panting heavily with his sword still in hand. Straight ahead of him, Zangetsu was panting lightly with a bit of sweat rolling down his cheeks.

Catching his breath, Zangetsu smirked and said "_Very impressive Ichigo. That attack was fiercer than any you have used thus far. You are very close to achieving your goal._"

The sword in his hand instantly vanished and the wind blew his trench coat out lightly. "_Ichigo, rest for a few days._"

Having difficulty still catching his breath, Ichigo roughly shook his head and said in a raspy voice "I'm not done yet…"

"_You are exhausted Ichigo. You used far more power than you ever have, and it is taxing your body. To receive my final form, the Bankai, you must be fully rested. For now, you cannot beat me in your condition. Rest, and we will continue in a few days._" Zangetsu remarked calmly.

"No, let's keep going! I don't have time to rest!" Ichigo hastily yelled.

Staring at Ichigo, Zangetsu lightly chuckled and began to vanish, saying "_We shall continue in a few days. Rest till then._"

"Get your ass back here Zangetsu!" Ichigo yelled and attempted to rush towards him, only to fall to the ground with blood gushing out from his wounds.

Wincing greatly, Ichigo mumbled "Damn it…"

"_Soon we shall continue Ichigo. Till then, stay alive and heal._" Zangetsu whispered before he completely vanished.

Grasping the cleaver blade tightly, Ichigo attempted to stand up, but fell back down instead.

"Damn it, I've lost too much blood…" Ichigo muttered lowly while his eyes began to droop heavily, and his body began feeling cold all over.

Laying on the ground with his crimson life force leaking out, Ichigo murmured lowly "I can't die now… Not when I still have to kill Kenshin and avenge Rukia…"

He barely was conscious when he heard someone gasp in shock over him and yell something at him. Blissfully, he fell into a deep sleep, unaware of anything or anyone around him.

--

Hearing a grumbling sound, Lilly, along with Kagome and Kaede, began checking Sango, Miroku, and Kohaku. Kirara was first to Sango and licked her cheek, making her scrunch up her face. The three each slowly began to wake, with Sango being first.

Opening her eyes slowly, she blinked for a moment, revealing that her brown eyes were now a color of gold. Glancing up, she saw Kagome standing over her, but lightly "eeped" at the sight of Kagome's transformed state.

"Kagome! What, what happened to you?" she asked worriedly.

Lightly chuckling at the reaction, Kagome remarked "Oh, well, I'll explain soon."

Suddenly, Sango quickly sat up, making Kirara leap away. Sango worriedly said "Miroku! Where is Miroku!?"

Hearing his name, Miroku stirred and revealed that his violet eyes were now emerald green. Looking up at Lilly, he smiled and reached out for her clawed hand and asked "Lilly, would you consider baring my child?"

Instantly, Lilly deeply blushed and tried to think what to say, but was soon interrupted when Sango stomped over to Miroku's futon and wacked him in the head with a heavy fist, instantly knocking him out.

"PERVERT!" Sango screamed out.

Thankful Miroku was now unconscious, Lilly removed her hand from his and checked him and sweat dropped. "Uh, Sango, you knocked him back out." she flatly said.

Realizing she had hit Miroku harder than before, she knelt down next to his unconscious form and apologetically said "I'm sorry Miroku…"

Glancing at his face, she frowned and instantly saw his hair was a different color, he had fox ears, and fangs poking out of his mouth. "What the…" she began, only to receive a calming hand on her shoulder from Lilly.

"Iya will explain what happened here soon." she calmly said.

Sighing, Sango nodded and looked towards the other futon, where Kohaku was slowly stirring. Kaede stood above the young man, who gradually opened his eyes, revealing that his chocolate colored eyes were now black.

"What…" he began, but then asked "Why is my voice different?"

"Kohaku!" Sango cried out and instantly enveloped her brother into a hug.

Looking at Sango's hair and face, Kohaku frowned and asked "What happened to you sister? And what happened to me?"

Noting he looked older due that his boyish looks were gone, Sango replied "I'm not sure."

"Iya will soon explain it to you all once you're ready to go out." Lilly calmly said to the siblings, earning them her attention.

Nodding to one another, Sango backed away and let Kohaku start to sit up. Sitting up, he noticed something was different. His clothing was missing for one, but he felt a bit awkward.

Noticing his bare chest, Lilly blushed and said "Girls, we need to leave in order to let Kohaku dress."

Kagome was quick to agree, although Kaede just simply shrugged. The four girls all then began to shuffle towards the door, but before doing so, Kagome pointed to a set of gray clothes nearby Kohaku's futon.

"Kohaku, those are for you to wear." Kagome kindly said before walking on out of the hut, followed by the others.

--

Watching the four women file out of the hut, Iya softly smiled from his perch in the nearby tree. Soon enough, he watched Kohaku, followed by Miroku, who held his head with one hand, file out as well.

Seeing the group had mostly gathered, Iya leapt from his spot in the tree and turned to see Sesshomaru with Rin walking out of the forest. Glancing around, he noted Ichigo was gone once more.

"Hmm, where did he get off to?" he softly asked aloud.

Sniffing the air, Iya found the smell of dust heavy, but no scent of Ichigo. Frowning a bit, he pondered once more where his comrade had disappeared to.

Turning and walking away from the gathered up group, he began sniffing the air once more and found a mostly heavy scent of dust, but a small scent managed to make it through the dust. The scent was of a cat, which Iya categorized it immediately into bobcat since Ichigo was one himself, but it wasn't as weak a scent as Ichigo's was. This one was more pure and focused. Then another whiff of the scent hit his sensitive nose and instantly made Iya begin to worry a bit.

"Magic…" he murmured while breaking into a full run. "_Another mage!? It smells like it could be! This one is different though..._"

Breathing in the scent once more, Iya determined more on the scent. "_It's female, that much is for sure. And it's that of a bobcat demon, a pure bred one. Ichigo, what the hell have you run into out here!_"

Flying through the forest, Iya finally saw a cleared out section where Ichigo had been obviously practicing due to the massive amount of destruction. There, kneeling over Ichigo was a young woman with long orange-brown hair that was pinned up into a messy bun, held by a black hair piece with a pink jagged stripe through it. Her bangs were held back with snowflake shaped hairpins, giving her face a clear view. She wore a black kimono and pants that matched Ichigo's, with a white inner kimono. Her body was rather curvy, and she had a large set of bumps on the front of her chest.

Getting a closer look at her, Iya saw she was holding her hands out and two twin objects were holding Ichigo in between them. His body was coated in a golden glow while the woman had a concentrated look on her face.

"Hey, what are you doing to Ichigo!" Iya cried out while drawing his sword, instantly transforming it.

Instantly disturbed and losing concentration, the twin objects unfolded, revealing two miniature fairy like creatures. The golden glow died quickly and the woman stood and looked at Iya with a friendly smile. Her eyes were gray and seemingly filled with innocence.

"Hello. Is this your friend?" the woman asked while pointing towards Ichigo.

Upon closer inspection, Iya realized that the woman was somewhat young looking, but he knew better than to underestimate a mage. "_Demons after all age differently. I still look almost the same as I've always looked since I turned twenty, much like Sesshomaru has._" he mentally chided.

Calmly, he replied "Yes, that is my friend. What are you doing with him?"

Smiling warmly, she said "Oh, I found him laying here, bleeding badly. I used my two friends here, Ayame and Shun'ō, to heal his body. He is still pretty hurt, but he's out of danger from bleeding out."

Nodding slowly, Iya asked "Who are you?"

"Oh, how silly of me." the young woman replied. "My name is Orihime Inoue. It's a pleasure to meet you…" Lightly giggling, she innocently said "Uh, I don't actually know your name."

Getting the feeling he could trust this person, Iya warmly smiled and lowered his sword, saying "My name is Iya Taisho."

"Wow, what a nice name." Orihime replied with a kind smile.

Keeping his eyes on Orihime, Iya slowly said "Orihime, I need to ask you a serious question."

"Ask away! I'll try to answer best I can." Orihime chirped.

Feeling lightly guilty for asking, Iya finally asked "Orihime, do you serve Byakuya Kuchiki, the mage?"

Lightly chuckling, Orihime warmly smiled and replied "I can see why you're so tense around me now. The answer is no, I don't work or serve or anything for Byakuya. Him and his little band give a bad name to mages. He asked me to come and fight for him, but I turned him down. We had a difference of opinion on humans and half demons."

"And what might that opinion be?" Iya cautiously asked.

"You sure are a curious one." Orihime replied. "My thoughts on humans, half demons, demons, and anyone in between is we are all equal. It don't matter who or what you are, you're no less special than any other person."

Feeling relief to find her opinion out, Iya reverted Ketsaiga to it's original form and sheathed it. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I just needed to know that you weren't a mage sent by Byakuya was all." Iya calmly said.

Frowning, Orihime finally asked "You're the half demon that's been making trouble for him, aren't you?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya nodded and said "Yes, I've been a bit of a headache for Byakuya and his mages. They intruded upon my father's lands two and a half centuries ago, and took some humans from my father's lands and made them slaves. My father, the former Lord of the Western Lands, Inutaisho, sent me to kill them since they continued to plunder other lands for slaves."

"Oh, I see, so that's why he's got it out for you." Orihime remarked with a head nod. Smiling, she added "I don't blame you for causing him trouble. He's a bit stuffy and arrogant in my opinion, and the ones that serve him aren't much better."

Chuckling at her comment, Iya softly smiled and said "Thank you for helping Ichigo. I can only guess he was training again and ended up getting really hurt from it."

"Yeah, it's a lucky thing that I came through the area when I did. If not, he'd have been a goner." Orihime commented. "But I can fix him up so he's good as new."

"I would appreciate that." Iya remarked. "If you like, there is a human village nearby where my other comrades are waiting for me. Would you like to go there with me? You'd have access to a futon to lay Ichigo on and maybe heal him easier."

Smiling appreciatively, Orihime nodded and replied "That would be nice."

Turning to her two small fairy creatures, she said "Ayame and Shun'ō, go ahead and rest up. We'll pick up soon again."

The two small creatures nodded and glowed instantly. The glows then shot towards her hairpins and formed a piece of the snowflake. With her creatures dismissed, she bent over and threw Ichigo over her shoulder, saying with a smile "Let's go!"


	15. Chapter 15: Plans

Chapter 15

**Hello everyone. Well, my weekend wasn't too bad. I spent Saturday with my lovely mate at the mall and other stuff. We bought a PS2 game called Star Wars Battlefront 2, which she's having a ball with, lol. I've played it before with my step brother, but my mate is really having fun with this game. Other than that, nothing really going on in my life. I saw my grandfather yesterday, who was doing alright, although he slept through most of my visit, lol. It's cool though.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a good bit done on this story, although I want to write a few more chapters before I work on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Still, I may not have much choice but to work on **_**MtM**_** soon due that I have less of it done than this **_**Another**_**. Oh well, that is the price I pay for working on two stories at once, I suppose.**

**Well, I believe it's time I answer the reviews, so here goes!**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: Yep, everyone is ok thus far. Heh, yeah, I figured I should make Rin a little older for this story, and thus I did the same for Kohaku. Hmm, Sesshomaru loving Rin? We'll see, hehe. Anyways, thanks for the review!**

**Lol, that was short. Not that I'm complaining, just stating that it was a short review session. Thank you for the review though NaKeva Rapp Cullen. If anyone else has comments, questions, etc, that they wish to ask me, feel free to post them in a review. I love answering those things. It's a good way to wake up when I get to work.**

**At any rate, I believe I'm done for this session, so later everyone! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

Sitting and waiting for Iya to return with Ichigo, Lilly sighed lightly while listening to Sango and Kagome chatting to one another. Not far away, Kohaku and Miroku sat together, softly talking to one another. Sesshomaru was nearby looking off in the distance with Rin staring up at the clouds. Further away, sitting in the branch of a tree, Inuyasha sat watching the group. Finally, she spotted Shippou and Kirara chasing one another in a game of tag.

Feeling alone, she scanned the area for Iya or Ichigo, but knew it was wishful thinking since Ichigo had been gone a while apparently, and Iya had just walked off into the forest to retrieve him.

"Lilly, why don't you come sit with us?" Kagome called out, breaking Lilly's longing gaze.

Smiling, she got up and walked over to where Kagome and Sango sat and plopped down to the ground beside the pair. Noting that Kagome stole a glance at Inuyasha, she lightly chuckled, making Kagome and Sango look at her odd.

"What's wrong with you?" Kagome asked.

Slyly smiling, Lilly replied "I can see who you're stealing glances from is all."

Instantly, Kagome's cheeks heated up to a pink shade, making Sango glance back and forth between her and Lilly. "What's going on Kagome? Did something finally happen with you and Inuyasha?" Sango quickly asked, making Kagome only blush once more.

"No, nothing happened." Kagome lowly said since she knew Inuyasha could no doubt hear the three talking. "He returned the Sacred Jewel to me is all."

Frowning, Sango asked "Why did he give it back? I thought he wanted to be a full demon still."

"It's not worth losing everything and everyone he cares about he said." Kagome nonchalantly replied. In a mere whisper, only low enough for Lilly and Sango to hear, she added "I'm very thankful that he didn't make that wish."

"Kagome…" both Lilly and Sango murmured.

Hearing something, the three instantly turned, along with everyone else, towards the forest to see Iya, along with a young woman who had long orange-brown hair up in a messy bun, who had Ichigo on her shoulder, walking out.

Leaping out of the nearby tree, Inuyasha gave the young woman a questionable glance before asking gruffly "Who is this Iya, and what's up with Ichigo being on her shoulder?"

Motioning towards the young woman, Iya said "This is Orihime Inou, and she found Ichigo unconscious in the woods. She's managed to heal him somewhat, but he needs a bit more care. She's a mage who can…"

Growling loudly, Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga from it's sheath, transforming it immediately and bearing it towards Orihime. "Another mage!? What the hell do you want with us!?" he snarled.

Smiling innocently, Orihime replied "Oh, I'm not one of those mages. I don't get along with them, and we tend to fight every so often. Don't worry, I'm not your enemy."

Glaring at her with an unconvinced look, Inuyasha moved to make an advance at her, only to be interrupted by Iya stepping in front of him with a calm expression. "It's alright Inuyasha, she's not our enemy. I've already discussed the situation with her, and she does not want to fight us, nor help the other mages. She's innocent, and plans on helping heal Ichigo."

Throwing one last glare at Orihime, Inuyasha finally reversed the Tetsusaiga's transformation and sheathed it once more. Stuffing his fists into his sleeves, he simply said "Keh."

Shaking his head, Iya motioned for Orihime to follow him. Leading her into Kaede's hut, he had Orihime set Ichigo down gently onto the nearby futon. Laying him down, Orihime sank down to her knees and sadly smiled down at Ichigo.

"He's part bobcat, isn't he?" she asked softly.

Nodding, Iya replied "Yes, he's a quarter bobcat and three-quarters human."

Frowning lightly for a minute, she finally asked "He's from the Kurosake Clan then, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. How did you know?"

Sighing lightly, Orihime glanced up at Iya, who sank down to his knees so he was at her level. "When I lived at the bobcat dens, I heard a story about the former head of the Kurosake Clan who fell in love with a human woman. The couple had a child, a girl, who decided to go to the bobcat dens."

Blushing lightly, she said "The dens were rough on the girl, to say the least. There, all of the females are only there for one reason: the males' demon heats."

A deeper blush came across her face as she added "We had to help them through it, which I hated so badly. It wasn't a place for a sweet girl like that."

"Nor you I take it, seeing how you're a bobcat demon yourself." Iya softly commented.

Somewhat surprised Iya already had her figured out, she softly smiled back and replied "No, it wasn't, but I was one of the lucky ones and didn't stay too long. An elder bobcat mage found me, and found out that I had the gift for sorcery. He decided to take me from the dens and made me his apprentice. Eventually, I learned that my brother had given me a magical item that contained six fairies. You've already seen two. The six reside within my snowflake hairpins. Over time, my master taught me to call them out and how to use each."

Nodding, Iya quietly said "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we got off topic."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that." Orihime apologetically said with a smile. "I tend to do that sometimes. Anyways, the girl, her name was… Ah, come on, I know this!"

Smacking her head gently with her fist, Orihime closed her eyes and thought about the name for a few minutes before finally saying "Her name was Maskaki. I knew I'd remember it eventually!"

Lightly chuckling at her, Iya watched as she finally settled and said "Anyways, Masaki left the dens soon after arriving due that she was horrified to what she was subjected to. Her father had let her go to the dens, knowing what they were like and knew his sweet daughter would hate it, but didn't argue with her going. She stayed a few months, but finally she had had enough since all the female bobcats made it really rough on her at the dens. The male demons didn't care that she was a half demon and treated her just as rough as the other females, maybe even more so than the others. At any rate, she left and fell in love with a human in a nearby village. She mostly passed for human, other than her claws and orange hair. The human she mated with loved her regardless of her heritage, and they had a son. I take it that Ichigo is the son, since he is the only quarter bobcat demon around that I know of."

Pointing at the sword laying nearby, she added "Plus, that sword, it's the Zangetsu, which belongs to the Kurosake Clan. Last I had heard, Urahara had been keeping the sword since Ichigo's mother didn't use it. Her father had, but when he died, the sword was sent to Urahara instead."

"Ichigo mentioned to me once that Urahara had trained him and gave him Zangetsu. I guess the sword seems to have taken a shine to him also. It's spirit genuinely seems concerned about him and wants to help him get stronger to achieve his goal." Iya commented.

"Goal?" Orihime questioned.

Sighing deeply, Iya replied "That's up to Ichigo to fill you in completely. I'll tell you this much, he has a grudge with one of the mages that follow Byakuya, the one known as Kenshin. He wants to kill him, at any cost, but to do that, he has to get strong enough to fully wield Zangetsu."

"I see." Orihime quietly said. "I suppose Kenshin did something rather evil to make him that mad."

"You could say that." Iya replied.

Looking down at Ichigo with a sad smile, she whispered "It's a shame. The Kurosake Clan has been through enough already."

Perking up, she softly smiled at Iya and said "Anyways, I better heal him I suppose."

"Yes, that would be nice if you could." Iya admitted.

Clapping her hands together, she opened them to turn her palms towards Ichigo and called out "Ayame and Shun'ō!"

Instantly, the two snowflake hairpins in Orihime's hair began glowing, and two parts of the hairpins broke free and shot out in a beam of orange light. The beams immediately stopped in front of Orihime and took the form of two fairies.

The first had a huge red bulb like structure covering it with two red wings growing off to each side, with each having a yellow hexagon pattern near each of the wings. Underneath of the bulb was a young woman with black hair in pink tails pulled to the side of her face held in pink ribbons. The young woman had a fair face and wore a long pink kimono. The other fairy had four wing like structures sticking out of her back and had long blonde hair pulled into a pony tail that trailed down her back. She wore a red kimono that came down to her knees where black pants came out from under it.

"Iya, I'd like to introduce you to two of my fairies." Orihime sweetly said. Pointing to the one with the red bulb like structure, she said "This is Ayame. Next to her, this is Shun'ō."

Ayame lightly blushed and shyly said hello, while Shun'ō smiled and warmly said "Hello there! Are you Orihime's new friend!? Or did she get a mate finally?"

Blushing bright red, Orihime furiously waved her hands, saying "No, no Shun'ō, it's nothing like that! He's just a friend!"

Looking at Orihime, Shun'ō finally shrugged and asked "Orihime, why did you call for us?"

Turning serious and settling down, Orihime motioned down towards Ichigo and asked "Remember this guy here?"

Peering at Ichigo's face, Shun'ō nodded and Orihime said "He still needs healed. So, think you two are up to it?"

"Sure Orihime!" both cheerily replied.

"Good." Orihime responded. Holding her hands out once more and concentrating hard on Ichigo, she called out "Ayame, Shun'ō, **Sōten Kisshun**!"

Immediately, the pair of fairies split up, with the pair moving towards the ends of Ichigo. Ayame took up position at his feet and Shun'ō moved to his head. Instantly, the pair put their hands out towards one another with the palms facing outwards. A bright golden glow enveloped each and soon enough, the glow stretched out, widening enough in places to enclose Ichigo's body within it. The glow eventually connected between the two and the pair closed their eyes, each seemingly in deep concentration.

Noting the three needed time alone to concentrate on healing Ichigo, Iya stood up and softly said "I'm going outside. When you finish, let me know."

Orihime barely nodded and Iya softly walked on outside. Arriving outside, he found a grumpy Inuyasha sitting in the tree that he'd been staying in since the night before. Instantly, Inuyasha leapt out and grumbled out "Why did you bring her here?"

Slightly confused, Iya asked "What do you mean why did I bring her here? She can heal people, so I thought it might be easier on Ichigo if she finished healing him."

"Why was he injured in the first place!?" Inuyasha quickly countered.

Heavily sighing at Inuyasha's questions, Iya calmly said "He was out practicing on learning how to bring out more of his sword's power."

"Feh, why didn't he ask one of us to fight him then?" Inuyasha belligerently asked.

Losing his patients slowly, Iya calmly remarked "He has to do this on his own. If you want to know what he does, ask him, but I'll warn you now, he won't tell you much probably."

Seemingly convinced, Inuyasha grumbled lightly and shoved his fists into his kimono, muttering "Feh, I don't trust her."

"For now, just let her be. She means well Inuyasha." Iya commented. Motioning towards the others, Iya added "Besides, we have enough to worry about for now."

Glancing towards the group, Inuyasha nodded slowly and softly asked "What now?"

"We fix things." Iya replied and moved towards the group. Calmly, he loudly called out "Can I have everyone's attention!"

Instantly, the group settled and turned to face Iya. Smiling that he had their attention, Iya calmly said "Thank you. As I'm sure all of you have noticed, most of you have been through some changes thanks to the mages. I apologize for that…"

Remorsefully, he added "I had hoped to warn you so everyone could prepare for them, and that the mages would then hold off their attacks for some time, but instead they attacked much sooner than I anticipated they would."

Bowing down onto his hands and knees, Iya humbly said "I am truly sorry for that."

Getting up, Lilly walked over to Iya and crouched down. Softly smiling at him, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, smoothly saying "Iya, you have nothing to apologize for. We all know you tried your best to stop the mages from taking any of us. I personally don't hold a grudge against you for what you've done. If not for you, I'd be in Kenshin's clutches right now, waiting for the thirty days to pass by. Thank you for saving me from him."

Sitting up, Iya sadly smiled back. Hearing rustling, Iya looked up to see the other transformed half demons get up and walk to him. Each softly smiled at him, with each patting him on the shoulder.

"None of us could blame you, Iya. You warned us, and even though they still managed to get to us, you did what you could in short notice. Thank you for that at the least." Kagome warmly said.

Sighing with relief, Iya softly smiled back at the group and stood up. Calmly, he solemnly declared "I vow from here on to do all within my power to save all of you. We will find a way to bring all of the mages down."

The group nodded and backed up and took up their original seats. Once they had, Iya said "I do have a plan on what to do about the mages. A friend of mine, who has been instrumental in the deaths of six of the thirteen original mages, should be able to help us in locating the mages once more."

Frowning, Inuyasha gruffly asked "Who is this friend of yours?"

"He grew up with me long ago. Sesshomaru knows him, after all, we were all three friends, although I'm sure Sesshomaru rather dislikes him still. He's a dog demon who trained to be a mage. His name is Ryo of the Wildfire." Iya calmly said.

"This Sesshomaru refuses to meet with that mage."

Smirking at Sesshomaru's comment, Iya slyly asked "Is that due that you still haven't forgiven him about that small accident all those years ago? I figured the great Sesshomaru wouldn't hold a grudge over something so meaningless."

Emotionlessly, Sesshomaru remarked "That mage is useless."

"Or is it that you still dislike him?" Iya teased.

"What the hell are you two talking about!?" Inuyasha interrupted rudely.

Smirking at Sesshomaru, Iya nonchalantly said "Me and Ryo were childhood friends, and over time, him and Sesshomaru became friends as well. Anyways, the three of us went on hunting trips that would last a few days. On one such trip, Ryo was put in charge of lighting the fire due that he was training to become a fire mage. Well, unfortunately, while lighting the fire, Sesshomaru made him lose his focus and he looked up. He was in the process of chanting his fire spell and didn't stop, so flames suddenly erupted in the direction he was looking at, which happened to be at Sesshomaru."

Chuckling heavily, Iya added "Sesshomaru's kimono instantly burst into flames, which caused Sesshomaru to go running around wildly trying to put the flames out. It was hilarious to watch him running past me with flames streaking off his back, at least it was at the time. He finally leapt into the mud hole, which put out the fire, but his kimono was ruined. Sesshomaru never forgave him for that, and hasn't talked to Ryo ever since."

With a touch of irritation in his voice, Sesshomaru tersely remarked "That is not the reason this Sesshomaru does not associate with that mage. This Sesshomaru chooses not to due that he is a disgrace to his profession."

"And due that you still are angry with him for setting your favorite kimono top on fire." Iya playfully added.

Snorting, Sesshomaru turned and began to leave, only to have Iya call out "Wait Sesshomaru."

Stopping, Sesshomaru returned his gaze towards Iya, who had calmed himself. "Sesshomaru, in taking the others to Ryo, we pass by the Western Stronghold. I wish to stop there and gather supplies, plus a few things of mine that I left." Iya commented.

"You shall not defile the Western Stronghold with those half breeds prescience." Sesshomaru stoically stated.

"As I remember, all humans, half demons, and demons have been welcomed at the Western Stronghold since father decreed it. You have not yet repealed it, I'm sure, for that would dishonor our father's memory." Iya sharply remarked.

Turning away, Sesshomaru began slowly walking away. A few steps away, he calmly said "Do as you wish. Come Rin."

"Coming Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin sweetly said and stood up. She quickly ran after him.

Sighing lightly, Iya calmly said "Now that that's, settled, we know where to go. It will take us five days to reach the Western Stronghold. Normally, it takes four days from here, but I'm going to expand it to five so we can get in some training. I know each of you are curious to what your new forms can do, and I wish to help teach each of you."

Turning to Inuyasha, Iya asked "Will you help me in teaching them?"

"Feh, someone has to." Inuyasha grumpily replied.

Nodding, Iya added "I'm sure Ichigo will help some once he heals up. In any case, we'll teach all of you how to use your newly sharpened senses to your advantage, how to fight, and hopefully how to survive more than anything."

Sighing a bit, Iya slowly added "We're going to try and avoid human villages for now by the way."

"Why?" Kagome asked with a frown.

"You know how the people react to me Kagome." Inuyasha replied softly. "Just imagine how they'll react to a whole group of half demons with no humans with them."

Nodding lightly, Miroku added "I agree Inuyasha. Right now, our appearances will frighten a lot of people. I mean, I have the clothes of a monk still, but they'll think I killed the monk and took the clothes. The same goes for Sango and yourself Kagome."

Heavily sighing, Kagome nodded with a pout, saying "Fine, you guys win."

"When do we leave?" Inuyasha impatiently asked.

"Once Orihime deems Ichigo is ready to travel, we'll head out." Iya was quick to reply.

Nodding, Inuyasha stood and grumbled "If he heals..."

"He's healed up!" Orihime called out from within the hut, earning the hut a fierce glare from Inuyasha.

Sighing heavily, Kagome closed her eyes and mumbled "Inuyasha, sit!"

Slamming head first into the ground, Inuyasha grumbled from the dirt and waited for the subduing spell to wear off.

Chuckling at his younger brother, Iya turned to the hut and walked in. There, he found Orihime wiping Ichigo's brow with a wet cloth. "So, he's healed then?"

"Yes, he is, and he should come around soon I hope. He should be back at one hundred percent now!" she cheerfully said.

"Thank you Orihime. This means a lot. How can I ever repay you?" Iya kindly asked.

Shyly smiling, she softly asked "If it's not too much trouble, can I travel with you? I can help fight the mages, plus having a healer along isn't a bad idea. Also, I know some powerful defensive spells and offensive spells. So, can I come with you?"

Frowning lightly, Iya asked "Are you sure you want to go with us? Our journey will be a dangerous one, with lots of chances for our enemies to strike us."

"I'm sure. I'd like to help." Orihime softly said. Looking down at Ichigo, she sadly smiled and said "It's the least I could do. I'm partly to blame for not stopping the mages when I could have the times they've approached me. So, I feel partly responsible for allowing them to keep fighting with you and the others."

Slightly shocked, Iya softly mumbled "Orihime…" Gathering his thoughts quickly, he said "You're more than welcome to join us."

Smiling kindly at Iya, Orihime said "Thank you. I'll try to make sure to do the best I can do."

"That's all I ask." Iya commented. "Send him outside the moment he wakes up, please."

"Sure thing." Orihime warmly said and went back to wiping down Ichigo's face and chest with a wet cloth.

--

Less than an hour later, Ichigo began to stir and the scent of ginger hit his nose. Scrunching up his eyes, he slowly opened them to find a young woman with orange-brown hair hovering over top of him with a wet cloth in her hand. Her eyes were grey, and she wore snowflake shaped hairpins in her bangs.

Noting his movement, she smiled and said "Good, you're finally awake sleepyhead."

He was about to respond when he remembered his final moments of consciousness from before. Reaching down to check his chest, he fingered for wounds, but found nothing, not even bandages.

"What the..." he began, but was interrupted by the young woman.

"It's alright, I healed your wounds." she warmly said. She moved back out of his way and sat down onto her legs, giving Ichigo a better look at her.

Staring at her face, he worked his way down her body and noted her large chest and an hourglass figure. Shaking the thoughts that crept into his mind, he slowly sat up, finding quickly he wasn't sore at all.

"I'm not sore at all. Why is that?" he asked aloud.

"That's because I used magic to fully heal your wounds. None of the pain or soreness will remain once I heal you." the young woman remarked happily with a smile.

Looking at her carefully, Ichigo slowly asked "Are you a… mage?"

"Yep, sure am. My name is Orihime Inoue. Iya told me earlier that your name is Ichigo. How are you feeling now?" Orihime asked.

"Wait, you ran into Iya!?" Ichigo frantically asked. "What did you do to him!? Are you working for Byakuya!?"

Holding her hands out in a surrender stance, she quickly said "Calm down, it's alright!"

Taking in the scents of his surroundings, Ichigo instantly calmed and put his head in his hands. "I'm back at that human village, and I can smell Iya's scent along with all those others." he mumbled mostly to himself.

Sighing lightly, Orihime softly said "Before you get panicky again, I'll answer one of your questions. I do not work for Byakuya. I am a mage, but I chose not to fight for him."

"That's a bit of a relief." Ichigo admitted. "I'd hate to have to fight you since you saved my life."

Lightly smiling at this, she added "Oh yeah, by the way, you should be more careful. You nearly died there in the forest."

"Yeah, I was training and got a bit carried away I suppose." Ichigo slyly admitted. Glancing around the hut, he saw his sword in the corner, but noted it was in it's transformed state.

Frowning, he asked aloud "Why is Zangetsu still transformed? I thought it would have reverted back when I passed out."

Instantly getting his answer, the sword flared to life with a blue aura. A figure of Zangetsu appeared next to it instantly, saying "_Good to see you're still alive Ichigo._"

"No thanks to you, you bastard!" Ichigo snorted.

Chuckling, Zangetsu gestured towards his sword form, saying "_I'm sure you're wondering why I'm in that state still, aren't you?_"

"Yeah, I just happen to be curious to why you are."

"_The reason is I no longer need to use that previous form. You achieved a much greater level of power earlier today, which has enabled me to remain in this state. I no longer need to revert to my previous form. I only did so to help you rest your own powers, but now that you have achieved a new level, I no longer need to revert. This is a big step towards Bankai, Ichigo. Continue to advance and you will achieve your goal._"

Slowly, the image of Zangetsu began to fade away, leaving only the large halberd wrapped in the white cloth that covered the hilt. Standing, Ichigo walked over to the sword and smirked at it.

"Good, then I'm nearing my goal." he declared aloud while picking it up at the hilt and placing it on his back, where the cloth attached to a red strap that went around his right shoulder to his waist.

Turning back to a shocked Orihime, he asked "Where is Iya?"

Waking from her shock, she pointed outside of the hut, saying "He's expecting you."

"Thanks." he gruffly said and walked out the door of the hut.

Arriving outside, he saw the others still around, except for Iya's older brother and the girl that traveled with him. Glancing around, he saw Iya nearby talking with his younger brother and walked towards the pair.

Noting Ichigo was coming, Iya turned to him and half smirked. "Good to see you're still alive." Iya commented.

"Good to be alive." Ichigo countered. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing, we're just preparing to leave. We're going to head towards the Western Stronghold and then to Ryo's from there." Iya explained.

Nodding, Ichigo replied "Sounds like a plan. You think he can find all the mages again for us?"

"Hopefully." Iya softly said. Glancing at Ichigo's back, he spotted the hilt of Ichigo's sword and frowned. "Why is Zangetsu still transformed?"

Smirking, Ichigo smugly said "Zangetsu said I got strong enough to the point he doesn't have to revert back to his other state. It's a big step he said, meaning I'm nearing my goal."

"Good to know, that means you'll be able to react quicker then." Iya commented.

"Yep, sure does."

Lightly growling, Inuyasha smartly asked "This is nice and all, but we need to move, don't we!?"

Sighing lightly, Iya nodded and said "You're right Inuyasha. We need to get ready to leave. Ichigo, why don't you go clean up and I'll get everyone gathered up to go."

Nodding, Ichigo turned and walked away, leaving Iya to turn to the others and begin preparations for leaving.


	16. Chapter 16: Moving Out

Chapter 16

**Hello everyone. Well, this week has been rather pleasant, at least weather wise, I suppose, lol. Each day thus far, it's been in the 60's or 70's, which is rather warm for our area in spring, but I'll go with it. Other than that, life is just normal, lol.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a bit more done on this story, but not too much more. I'm still splitting my focus between this story and my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. I have less done on **_**MtM**_**, but I'm trying to split my focus on both. Eh, two stories is so hard to work on at the same time, lol.**

**Alright, time for reviews!**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: Thanks. Yes, Sesshomaru is being stubborn, but that's his nature, lol. He may learn one day, but you never know. True, maybe Inuyasha will learn to not jump to conclusions one day about people, but we'll see about that, hehe. Yep, there is another ally now, in the form of a female bobcat mage named Orihime. She should bring some healing skills at least to the group. Yeah, they may need all the allies they can get to take down the mages. After all, each mage is powerful in their own respect. Heh, the powers the others have will be revealed soon enough. Thanks for the review!**

**Ok, that's all the reviews, lol. If anyone has any questions or comments, don't be shy about reviewing and telling me. I'm more than happy to answer them, assuming it doesn't give away the plot of this story. Thanks once more for my reviewer.**

**I think that's it for me, so with no further ado, here is the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 16**

Within the hour, the group had gathered up their things and said their farewells to Kaede. Upon finishing, Iya led the group away towards the direction of the Western Stronghold.

In the front of the group, leading the way, was Iya with Sesshomaru and Rin following closely behind him. Behind the pair, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kohaku, with Shippou on Kohaku's shoulder, followed. Behind them, Lilly, Miroku, and Sango, who held Kirara in her arms, closely followed. Bringing up the rear were Ichigo and Orihime, who quietly followed.

Running along, the group traveled for nearly five hours till the sun hung low in the sky and night was nearing. Satisfied that the group had traveled long enough, Iya came to a stop, making the others halt.

"Why did you stop Iya?" Sesshomaru stoically asked.

Turning to him, Iya replied "We've traveled five hours straight. I'm sure the group could use a rest. Besides, we'll set up camp here tonight."

Glancing back at the group of new half demons, Iya saw many were sitting on the ground, lightly panting. Lilly was the only one not really panting, while her and Miroku were the only two still standing.

Seeing the entire group was exhausted, Sesshomaru wordlessly began walking away. Nearing the edge of the clearing where the group had stopped, he calmly said "Rin."

Hearing her name, Rin instantly got up and went running to Sesshomaru and followed him into the forest. Shrugging at this, Iya turned to the group and said "Since we've stopped for the night, let's first set up camp. Once that's done, we'll train for a few hours and then eat dinner."

Part of the group, mainly Kagome, grumbled lightly at this, but began shuffling around and preparing the campsite. Smirking at their actions, Iya motioned for Orihime, Ichigo, and Inuyasha to come to him.

Getting the three together, Iya said "Guys, I'm going to need your alls help in training everyone."

"I'm passing. I have training to do with Zangetsu." Ichigo stated and turned around, walking away slowly.

Lightly growling, Iya called out "Ichigo, we need your help. Just for a few days. The others need prepared, just in case. They need to learn to defend themselves, and how to use their demonic skills."

Stopping in his tracks, Ichigo looked over his shoulder at Iya, saying "Give me one good reason to stop training for a while."

The reason instantly materialized before Ichigo in the form of Zangetsu. Smirking at Ichigo, he said "_I told you to rest a few days. You won't get any training out of me till you do._"

That said, Zangetsu's spirit once more vanished, leaving an agitated Ichigo softly growling to himself. Heavily sighing, he turned to face Iya and grumbled "Fine, I'll help you."

"Good." Iya remarked. Turning to Inuyasha and Orihime, he asked "Will you two help?"

"I'm not sure what I can help with, but I'll try." Orihime volunteered.

Stuffing his fists in his sleeves, Inuyasha snorted and said "I suppose I can help. After all, it's my pack and they could use the help."

"Thank you." Iya graciously said. "We'll just have to pick things out to train them on. I've trained Lilly somewhat, but she still needs some training, that much I know."

Glancing to see the group was still preparing the campsite, Iya added "Once they finish up, we'll start training."

Agreeing, the four separated and began helping with preparing camp for the night. Soon enough, the work was finished and Iya led the group away from the camp into the forest. Satisfied with the spot he picked out, Iya spread the group out and decided to break them up into teams.

"Since there are so many, I'm going to split the teams up a bit. Ichigo, you will work with Sango; Orihime, work with Kagome; Inuyasha, I want you and Miroku to work together. Finally, I will work with Kohaku and Lilly." Iya explained.

"Wait, why are you working with two people!?" Ichigo asked with a touch of irritation.

Smirking lightly, Iya replied "Rather simple really. Kohaku has fire powers, hence he needs to learn to use his flames. Since I can use ice, I think it would be easier for me to teach him how to use his powers. And I'm keeping Lilly with me due that she's a bit ahead of the others since I worked with her some already."

"Oh…" Ichigo flatly remarked. Sighing, he turned to Sango, saying "Let's get started then."

The group instantly split up into it's new teams, with each leading their partners away till finally there was enough space so that none of the groups would run into one another while training.

--

Sighing lightly, Ichigo began rubbing the back of his head, trying hard to figure out what to teach Sango. Meanwhile, Sango began tapping her Hiraikotsu expectantly. After waiting for nearly five minutes, she irritably asked "Well?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ichigo asked "What would you like to learn?"

"How to hone all of my skills as a half demon. I mean, I should be able to track scents, hear things far away, fight even better than before, and so on. So, pick something to teach me!" she impatiently demanded.

Grunting at this demand, Ichigo finally settled on a skill and said "Fine, I have a good practice exercise for you. I'm going to go and hide in the woods. I want you to track me down using your nose and ears. First though, I need you to identify my scent."

Nodding, Sango began sniffing the air. She picked up the scent after a moment of a musky woods scent that seemed to emanate from Ichigo.

"Got the scent?" he asked seeing her scrunch up her nose.

He received a nod from Sango and then turned away from her, saying "Count to twenty, then come find me."

With that said, Ichigo rushed off into the forest at blinding speed, leaving Sango in the dust. Frowning, she began counting aloud to herself till she finally reached twenty.

Taking off in the direction Ichigo had gone, she picked up his scent easily and followed it along till suddenly the trail vanished. Stopping, she backed up to find the scent. It had gone right beside a tree, but then vanished, making her frown. After a moment, she sniffed the tree to discover Ichigo had leapt into the tree. Leaping up into it herself, she carefully listened for any sounds, swiveling her silver fox ears numerous directions before continuing on. She followed the trail out to the end of a limb and found he had jumped to a new tree, so she did the same.

Eventually, Sango had leapt through several trees and had been able to proficiently identify Ichigo's scent. The scent suddenly vanished once more, making her backup yet again and look for it. Searching, Sango frowned at the fact the scent had completely vanished from the area. Swiveling her ears, she heard light breathing not far away, as if it was being hidden but barely left loud enough for her to hear. Leaping out of the tree, she pinpointed the scent once more and caught sight of Ichigo.

Smirking triumphantly, she declared "There you are!"

Chuckling at her, Ichigo replied "You found me. Not bad. I figured you'd lose the trail and get frustrated and quit."

"I don't quit. I was a demon slayer prior to this, so I'm not one to quit at anything." Sango remarked.

"Good. Then I say we have a bit of a sparing match, just to get you used to that new body. We'll go easy, and no weapons."

Nodding, Sango laid down Hiraikotsu, and Ichigo laid down Zangetsu. Moving into an attack stance, he smirked, saying "Don't expect me to go easy on you."

--

Leaping through the trees, Kagome happily smiled from the thrill and feeling of the wind striking her face. Her hair was flying every which direction, still, it didn't matter to her. Just the feeling of the rushing wind seemed to make her mood much happier.

Looking over, she softly smiled at the fact Orihime was seemingly enjoying the same thing. Glancing ahead, Orihime motioned for the two to leap out of the trees, which Kagome did.

Hitting the ground, the pair came to a stop and Kagome fell to the ground giggling. "That was so much fun!" she happily said.

Chuckling at Kagome's state, Orihime replied "I know. I never get tired of the feeling of the world flashing by."

Sitting up, Kagome stood back up and smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt. Looking to Orihime, she asked "So, now what?"

Taking a moment to think about it, Orihime finally said "I guess we could try working on your agility."

"Ok, that sounds like fun." Kagome agreed.

Looking around, Orihime found a small mound of clay. Picking up a hand full, she shaped up some mud balls and laid them on the ground. "Alright Kagome, I'm going to throw these at you. I want you to dodge them, ok?"

"Sure thing." Kagome remarked and got into a stance that made it easy for her to move.

Smirking, Orihime pulled her arm back and said "Alright, here it comes!"

--

"Feh, Miroku, you're about as useless now as Shippou." Inuyasha grumbled.

"HEY! I'M NOT USELESS! I'M JUST A KID!" Shippou screamed back.

"Feh, exactly, you're completely useless."

Heavily sighing, Miroku interrupted the argument, saying "This isn't helping Inuyasha. I need to be able to at least track something. So help me out with my hearing and scents."

Leaping on to Miroku's shoulder, Shippou happily wagged his tail and said "Once he's done training you on that, me and you can work on your Fox Magic. I'll teach you all about being a true red demon fox."

Sighing, Miroku mumbled "I'd much rather be with a certain half silver fox…"

--

Watching Lilly and Kohaku spar, Iya could immediately tell that Kohaku was holding back heavily. Noting Kirara was watching with heavy intent, Iya moved from his place and said "That's enough for now you two."

Stopping their fight immediately, Iya motioned for Kirara to come to him. The small neko leapt to his shoulder and Iya said "Kirara, I want you to transform. Once you do, Kohaku, I want you to fight with her using your fire powers."

While Kirara leapt from Iya's shoulder, Kohaku frowned, asking "How do I fight with them? I haven't been able to use them once so far, and still haven't figured out how."

"I'm going to teach you right now. Kirara, it'll be just a moment, but go ahead and transform. If you would, spar a little with Lilly." Iya instructed the small neko.

Nodding lightly at his commands, Kirara's body was instantly surrounded by flames. From the flames, her larger cat form emerged with flames still on her tails and paws.

"Be careful Lilly, she'll be a handful." Iya calmly said.

"Right…" Lilly murmured while staring at the fire cat.

Turning back to Kohaku, Iya walked over and knelt down. Holding his arm out, Iya called forth a small bit of his icy powers to his palm, forming a small bit of icy steam while frost gathered on it.

"Calling out your powers isn't too difficult Kohaku. All you need to do is look inside yourself and feel for the power. Imagine the flames in your palm, and then just push it out." Iya explained.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Kohaku looked within himself for the power to make flames. After a minute, he finally noted something deep within himself. Feeling he had a grasp on it, he began pushing it out towards his palm and felt something in it. Opening his eyes, he saw flames licking his palms lightly. Smiling great big at Iya, felt the flames instantly go back out.

"Good job Kohaku. That was an excellent start. Now you just need to learn to push that power out further, and with more strength. Once you master that, throwing flames or using them as a shield or whatever will come second nature." Iya commented.

Nodding with understanding, Kohaku turned towards Kirara, who was swatting at Lilly with her large paws. "Hey, Kirara, I'm ready!" he declared, gaining the attention of the fire cat.

The cat instantly came running to Kohaku and the pair moved off a bit, leaving Iya and Lilly together. Smiling softly at Lilly, Iya said "And now Lilly, we're going to spar. I won't go as easy on you as before. To get stronger, you must learn to anticipate your opponent's moves, and figure out how to counter them. In other words, you must think on your feet."

Understanding what Iya was saying, she took up a ready stance. Seeing her footing was proper, Iya calmly said "Let's begin."

--

After a grueling two hours, the groups came out of the forest and back to camp, where all of the new half demons fell to the ground in exhaustion, with many panting heavily. Most had minor cuts on their bodies, but nothing that wouldn't heal up within a few hours on their own.

With the five laying on the ground exhausted, Iya and Inuyasha left to hunt. Within the twenty minutes, they brothers returned with a deer. The pair had already field dressed it and was ready to begin skinning it. They hung it into a nearby tree and together quickly skinned it. Soon enough, the meet was set over the fire, sending out the scent of cooking meat that made the exhausted half demons perk back up and lick their lips at the tantalizing smell.

Sesshomaru and Rin soon returned from their own training, with Rin dragging behind rather far. The others had originally thought Rin wasn't coming back till she had finally staggered in and collapsed onto the ground with some of the others. She had numerous minor cuts on her body as well, with blood seeping through to her clothing. Orihime instantly looked her over, but determined none were serious. Still, that didn't stop her from glaring at Sesshomaru over his type of training.

Nearly an hour later, the deer was cooked and the group immediately feasted on the well cooked meet, with the exception of Sesshomaru. Once the group had finally had their fill, they each began relaxing. Within an hour or two, the entire group turned in for the night.

Looking down upon the group from his perch in a nearby tree, Iya leaned back up against the tree and sighed lightly. Below him on a lower branch, Inuyasha sat with his eyes already closed. On the ground, Sesshomaru leaned heavily up against the tree with his eyes closed, but his senses sharp.

On the other end of the clearing, Ichigo leaned heavily against his own tree while Orihime looked up at him from her own branch. Staring at him, she felt a light blush cross her face, but looked back out at the stars instead.

Glancing up at the moon, Iya heavily sighed. "_In a few nights, it'll be my time. I hope the mages don't attack then. I've managed to keep it hidden from them so far, but I know they'll figure it out eventually._"

Turning his view back to the clearing, he sniffed the air, checking for any signs of danger. Finding none, he instead found the scents of the entire group, one in particular that smelled of raspberries and made him sigh with contentment. The scent was lulling him into a deeper sleep than he wanted, so he forcefully woke himself up and scanned the forest with his senses.

"_This is no time to be thinking about girls._" he grumbled lowly in his mind.

Relaxing against the tree once more, he slowly fell into a light sleep, but kept his keen senses alert.

--

The next day was rather quiet, with part of the group partially complaining about constantly moving. Kagome in particular, along with Lilly, disliked the fast pace that Iya had them on, but Iya only replied that to save them, they had to keep moving.

The group stopped a few times for ten minutes breaks, but other than that, Iya kept the group moving at a fast pace. Evening soon came, and the group stopped like the night before. Training soon ensued, with the entire group getting some hand to hand training for the most part. Once it had finished, dinner was eaten, and then the girls decided to clean up.

Finding a hot spring nearby, the girls deduced that only three could comfortably enter and clean themselves. Lilly volunteered to be in the separate group, and Kagome soon joined her to keep her company, leaving Sango, Rin, and Orihime to go to the hot spring and clean up.

Once the three had returned with an unconscious Miroku, Kagome and Lilly headed out to the hot spring. It was a good ways from camp, but the two girls made the trek alone.

Arriving, both girls made sure no one was around peeping on them using their noses, ears, and eyes. Satisfied, both disrobed, with Kagome setting two white terry cloth robes beside of the hot spring so they could dry off easier.

Gently, both Lilly and Kagome slowly entered the water, with Kagome putting her hair up into a messy bun with a ribbon. Sinking in finally, both let out a contented sigh as they sunk down to chin level in the water.

Noting Lilly seemed slightly tense, Kagome cocked concernedly asked "Something the matter Lilly?"

"No, I'm fine." Lilly answered somewhat truthfully. "To be honest, it's strange being a half neko demon. Cats don't like water, but I've always liked the water. It just seems like the two sides of me are conflicting with one another. My human nature loves water, but the demon side hates water."

Lightly chuckling, she shook her head, asking "Silly, isn't it?"

"Not really. I can understand why part of you doesn't like water." Kagome warmly replied.

Relaxing back against the wall of the hot spring, Kagome sank down deeper in to the water till her nose was barely submerged. Sitting back up, she leaned against the wall of the spring and closed her eyes, becoming lost within her thoughts.

"_I wonder if we can save everyone in time. Lilly has the least amount of time, but the rest of us only have nearly 28 days left. If even one of us doesn't make it, I don't know what any of us will do..._"

"Kagome?"

Opening her eyes, Kagome looked at Lilly and softly smiled. "Yes?" she answered.

Pondering her words for a moment, Lilly finally asked "Do you think we'll make it? I mean do you think we'll be able to stop the mages in time?"

Thinking on Lilly's words for a moment, Kagome softly asked "Do you think we can make it?"

Reflecting on Kagome's own question, Lilly lightly sighed and looked up at the sky. "I believe in Iya. I know he won't let anything bad happen to us, but still, I'm a bit scared I guess. The thought of losing complete control of myself frightens me. But…"

Softly smiling, she added "… I know Iya will do everything within his power to save us. He vowed to save us, and from what I can tell, Iya isn't one to break a promise."

"Yeah…" Kagome murmured lowly. Softly smiling herself, she looked up at the sky with Lilly and said "I suppose you're right. Besides, Inuyasha, Ichigo, Orihime, and even Sesshomaru, are all joining forces to stop the mages. I think we'll make it."

"I hope so." Lilly commented. "I'd like to have a chance to live out the rest of my life without being someone's slave."

"Me too, me too Lilly." Kagome remarked. "I want to live life to the fullest. You know, get married with someone I love, settle down, have some kids, and grow old with that person that is special to me."

Noting Kagome's cheeks had blushed lightly upon saying those words, Lilly mischievously smiled and teasingly asked "Is that someone you want to settle down with happen to be a half dog demon who's been with you for so long?"

Instantly, Kagome's blush deepened. "I, uh, don't, uh know what you're talking about." she muttered in response while trying to contain her emotions.

Giving Kagome a Cheshire cat grin, Lilly warmly said "It's not very hard to tell that you love Inuyasha."

"Is it that obvious?" Kagome lowly asked with blush forming once more.

Softly smiling, Lilly nodded, making Kagome sink deeper into the water till her head was finally covered completely. She came up for air a moment later and flicked her ears lightly, getting water off of them. Shaking her head lightly, she knocked some more water out and then leaned up against the hot spring's wall. Sighing heavily, she glanced up at the nearly full moon and softly smiled.

"You truly love him, don't you?" Lilly asked softly.

Softly smiling up at the moon, Kagome quietly said "Yes, I do. I've loved him for so long that I can't even remember when I started to. I thought I'd lose him when we completed the Sacred Jewel, but still, that hasn't stopped me from loving him. Now that the Jewel is complete and he doesn't want it, I don't know what to do, but even now I still love him."

Looking back down at Lilly, Kagome lightly chuckled and mumbled "He probably doesn't even care about me."

"Do you really think he doesn't?" Lilly asked with a frown.

"He's always been more interested in Kikyo than me…" Kagome muttered lowly. "Even now when she's dead, she still haunts his memories and emotions."

Softly smiling, Lilly replied "You are truly blind Kagome."

Frowning, Kagome turned a look of confusion to Lilly. "Kagome, it's obvious to everyone, even me who has just started to get to know you and the others, that he loves you, and that you love him. It's written in each of your eyes and the way you two act towards one another. The only problem is, neither of you can admit it to the other."

Heavily sighing, Kagome looked down at her reflection in the water. Seeing her ears lightly twitch, she softly smirked. "I guess you're going to tell me what Iya told me. I need to take a chance and tell him first, right?"

"No, I'm not going to make any suggestions." Lilly commented. "It's your decision. You can't make someone do something they're not ready to do. But believe me, in my heart, I know both you and Inuyasha love one another."

Lightly sighing, Kagome smiled warmly at Lilly and said "Thank you Lilly."

A small silence appeared around the pair till finally Kagome broke it, saying "Lilly, I don't think I'm the only one blind to the ones around us."

"What do you mean Kagome?" Lilly asked with a light frown.

"I can see it in your eyes that you like another certain half dog demon." Kagome smartly replied, earning a light blush from Lilly.

"You can't be serious? You think I like Iya!?" Lilly sputtered.

Lightly chuckling, Kagome nodded and said "I think you do. I see the way you glance at him when he's around, and then look for him when he's gone. And when Orihime and him returned yesterday, I saw a small bit of jealousy in those little kitty eyes."

Deeply blushing, Lilly shook her head rapidly. "No, I don't like Iya like that!" she quickly said on the defensive.

"Then why are you blushing?" Kagome smugly asked.


	17. Chapter 17: Ghost From the Past

Chapter 17

**Hello again everyone. Well, this week hasn't been too bad, except for this morning. This past weekend, I saw my mom and grandparents, which was cool. I didn't get to see my sister due that she spent the day with her boyfriend, which I guess I was slightly ticked off about, but oh well. I'm over it, lol. Yesterday, the owner of the company I work for came in for a visit, and we all went out for dinner with him. It was a good time. Anyways, this morning sucks due that my dad told me my step mom's father died last night. I guess he'd be a step grandfather, or something like that. At any rate, I'm a little sad about it. He was a good man. So, I think in honor of him, I'll publish this chapter.**

**Alright, moving along, here are my replies to the reviews.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks. It's cool about not reviewing lately. It happens to all of us, lol. Ouch, tendinitis sucks. I'm glad you like how the story is progressing. I do have a bit of a chapter limit in mind, but I'm unsure really. Originally, I thought 50 chapters or less, but now, I'm thinking maybe a little longer. I'm just not sure. It maybe less, you never know. We'll see, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: Thanks. Heh, everyone's powers will become more apparent as the story rolls onwards. Lol, yeah, it would be nice if Kagome and Inuyasha would admit their feelings for one another. No such luck thus far though. Heh, I suppose Iya and Lilly too have feelings for one another, but you never know with those two. True, even half demons do need love. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thanks for both of them! By the way, thank you to the two new adds to my favorites list. I appreciate both of them. Also, if anyone has any comments, questions, etc., they wish for me to answer, please, do not hesitate to post a review or PM me. I'm more than happy to answer anything, other than if it divulges the plot. I won't do that, lol. But any other kind of questions or comments, again, feel free to ask me.**

**That raps it up for me. I hope everyone likes this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 17**

"So, the cute kitty likes the bad doggy, huh?" a female voice called out, putting both girls into a stir while looking for the source of the voice.

The source soon walked out from behind a nearby tree with soft steps. Standing before the two was a beautiful young woman with soft silky long blue hair that reached her butt. On her head, two dog ears twitched lightly that were covered in soft blue fur. Her eyes were soft looking and had a deep brown coloring to them. She wore a long white skirt that came up to her stomach and reached her feet, but it wasn't clingy and hung freely away from her body, a white blouse with no sleeves that came to just above her stomach, and white gloves with her fingers exposed that came up to her upper arms where the sleeve like gloves ended and three leather straps appeared. Over the skirt, at her hips, was a leather strip that followed the curves of her hips. In the strip, there was a beautifully crafted sword with a red hilt, a set of wing like guards with twisted pieces of metal reaching just a bit into the hilt where the blade connected. The remainder of the sword was slender, but appeared rather sharp.

Staring at the young woman, both Kagome and Lilly sank deeper into the water, trying to hide their bodies from their visitor. Chuckling at this, the young woman said "I see Kenshin and Kurama's taste in slaves has yet to change in over two hundred years."

Slightly bristling up at the comment, Kagome growled lowly and angrily spat "You're with the mages!"

"Yes, I am. My Master asked me to come find you." the young woman calmly said. Letting out a light giggle, she added "I haven't called him that in a while. I guess it's to be expected. Anyways, be thankful it's me and not your masters. Both were rather displeased to lose both of you to Iya."

Frowning upon saying Iya's name, the young woman looked Lilly over and smirked, saying "So the old dog has taken a fancy to cats now, eh? Figures…"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Lilly snarled.

Chuckling at Lilly's reaction, the young woman remarked "He's always had a thing for humans. I suppose since you're really human, he can see through the cat features, although I can't tell how with that annoying tail of yours."

Growling lowly, Lilly prepared to make a move, but the young woman instantly drew her sword and had it at her throat before Lilly could move out of the water. Forcing Lilly to sink back into the water by pressing the blade closer to her throat, the young woman smugly said "You shouldn't act so hastily. It'll be the death of you."

Bristling up with anger, Lilly lightly growled, but remained still.

"Good kitty." the young woman commented. "Like my Master, I'm not heartless. I don't want to hurt either of you, but try and escape or fight me, and you'll regret it, I promise you that much."

Sheathing her sword, the young woman backed away and said "Now then, get out of the hot spring and dress. Once you do so, we'll be leaving to meet your new masters."

Neither Kagome nor Lilly moved to get out of the hot spring, making the young woman sigh. "Please don't be difficult. I'd rather not force you at sword point to dress. It's rather uncomfortable not only for me, but for yourselves too."

Looking at one another, Kagome and Lilly decided to remain in the water, making the young woman heavily sigh. Drawing her sword once more, she began sending pink energy up through the blade and pointed it at the two girls. Neither made a move to get out of the water still, although fear was clearly on their faces.

"Out now, or I'll force you out." the young woman hissed.

After a moment, Kagome finally began to rise up out of the water, but covered her chest with her hands. Satisfied that the two were going to cooperate, the young woman backed up and turned around, and once more sheathed her sword. Crossing her arms, the young woman said "I know it's uncomfortable to dress in front of strangers, so go ahead. I won't watch."

Grudgingly, both Lilly and Kagome stood up out of the water and put the terry cloth robes on. Noting the two had dressed, the young woman turned back to the pair and smirked. "Good, now that you're dressed, we need to be off."

Motioning towards their clothing, the woman said "Go ahead and pick it up, Kagome. Once we get some distance, I'll let you two change back into them."

Kagome nodded lightly and walked over to the clothing. Crouching over to pick up the clothing, she gently piled it up.

Noting the young woman's attention was on Kagome, Lilly closed her hands and tightly made fists. In a rash decision, she charged the young woman and threw a punch at her, intending to catch her off guard.

Instead of making contact, the young woman leapt backwards away from Lilly's fist, making Lilly lightly clench her teeth. "Run and get Iya!" Lilly hissed to Kagome. "I'll keep her busy!"

"But…"

"Don't argue Kagome! GO!" Lilly yelled while charging forward at the young woman with claws ready to strike.

Hesitantly, Kagome turned and began running quickly towards camp, making the young woman lightly growl.

"Oh no you don't!" she angrily yelled and began moving towards Kagome, only to be blocked by Lilly.

"You're going nowhere! Your opponent is me!" Lilly hissed with her fangs barred.

Growling, the young woman began to say something, but stopped and a calm expression crossed her face. Drawing her sword once more, she calmly said "Very well, I'll take you at the least."

Pulling her sword up till it was straight in front of her body, she turned it quickly in a quarter turn, showing the broadside towards Lilly, making Lilly give her a questionable look.

"It's time to show you the difference between the two of us, a gap that you'll never overcome." the young woman calmly said.

The blade instantly began to glow pink, and she murmured "Scatter Senbonsakura."

Immediately, the blade began to decompose, sending out pink sakura flower petals till finally only the guard and the hilt was left.

"What the, your sword, it's gone!?" Lilly asked with an unsure voice. "What happened to it!?"

Darkly chuckling, the young woman replied "You'll see soon enough. I haven't had to use this in a long time. Good thing I've kept practicing with it."

Several of the sakura petals continued to float in the air around the young woman, seemingly surrounding her body. She smirked and pointed at Lilly, sending the petals floating towards Lilly.

Angered by getting no answer, Lilly charged forward, gruffly saying "No flowers are going to stop me!"

Charging forward, Lilly ran straight into the flower petals, only to yelp out in pain when numerous cuts began appearing on her face and arms, making her leap backwards. Looking at the cuts, she frowned and looked at the young woman, asking "How did you do that!? I didn't see you attack me!"

Darkly chuckling, the young woman smirked and said nothing. Infuriated, Lilly charged forward at the woman once more, but once the sakura petals came rushing towards her, she rolled out of the way and moved closer with her claws poised to slash the young woman.

"I have you now!" she yelled while leaping into the air towards the woman.

Before she could make contact, a flurry of sakura petals blew up from the ground and began encircling Lilly. She instantly screamed out in pain as numerous cuts formed on her body. Blood sprayed from the numerous wounds, making the air turn a hazy red and turning her robe mostly red. Her body instantly fell to the ground with her yelping in pain from the impact and sending blood gushing out of her wounds.

"You little fool, I told you couldn't hope to win against me. Now you're cut up, and Kenshin will be most displeased when he sees me and you." the young woman said with a sigh. "Oh well, you'll heal maybe before I present you to him."

The sakura petals instantly flowed back to the woman's sword and reformed the blade. Sheathing it, she looked down at Lilly's bloodied form. "I wonder why he bothers with you…" she mumbled softly.

"LILLY!" a voice cried out.

Arriving at the hot spring, Iya had Ketsaiga drawn and glared at the female form above Lilly's fallen form. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" he snarled loudly.

Turning so that her face could be seen, the young woman lightly smirked. Iya instantly felt his heart skip a beat at the face of the young woman, his eyes instantly going wide.

"No… it can't be." he muttered lowly.

Sneering at the reaction, the young woman mockingly asked "Surprised to see me Iya? It has been a long time. I'm sure it's hard for you to recognize me since the last time we saw one another, I was human."

"It… it just can't be…" he murmured lightly. He instantly lowered his sword and his guard, seemingly lost in thought.

Smirking at Iya's expression, the young woman began to advance on him but instantly stopped. Glancing behind her, she saw Lilly's body pulsating and a red demonic aura slowly rising out of her body.

"Damn…" she silently cursed.

Turning back to Iya, she heavily sighed and said "Unfortunately for you, I must go. I see that I'm not going to be able to recover Kenshin and Kurama's pets, so I should be off."

"Wait…" Iya quickly said, but noted Lilly's pulsating form. "No…"

"That girl, she's transforming. I could take her with me, but a transformed half demon would be a bit too much for me to bother with. I'm sure Kenshin can come get her later, once she's settled." the young woman commented.

With a smirk, she added "Besides, she'll be more than a handful for you. I wonder if you can truly save this girl, or will you perish at her hands?"

Shrugging, she said "Neither matter to me. I just hope she gives you a few good slashes just for me."

Iya stood with his mouth agape, unsure of what to say. "Kaia…" he lowly murmured.

Chuckling, the young woman said "The person you speak of died years ago. Now only I remain. Farewell Iya. Try and live a little longer so I can claim my revenge upon you."

With those words said, she drew her sword and made a cutting motion through the air, creating a green shimmering portal. Stepping in, she gave a sly look and then continued on in, closing the portal behind her.

Still in shock, Iya was awoken from it when he sensed the powerful demonic aura flaring about near him. Looking over at Lilly, he saw her standing in a blood soaked white robe with blood dripping from some of her wounds. Her fangs were now elongated, two jagged green demon markings appeared, her claws were now longer and sharpened, tail jerking and twitching irritably, and her eyes a feral color of red with yellow irises.

Looking at Iya, she sneered and in a husky voice said "Let's fight!"

Without warning, she leapt straight for Iya with claws bared at him. Sheathing Ketsaiga, Iya rolled out of the way easily, but was caught off guard when Lilly appeared at the spot he had moved to. She quickly swiped at him, making him fall backwards to the ground to avoid her attack. Immediately upon hitting the ground, he rolled quickly away and leapt back to his feet. Looking at Lilly, he saw her down on all fours, glaring at him with burning eyes of anger and hate.

"Lilly, calm down." Iya smoothly said. "Try and retake control."

Ignoring his words, she leapt forward and slashed at him once more. Her speed had been greater than usual, so Iya narrowly escaped the slash unscathed. Falling back some, Iya attempted to put space between the two, but Lilly would have none of it. She continued to advance, claws slashing at him quickly and with great power behind them. He was in a way impressed by her new strength, but knew that she was nothing but an animal right now.

"Lilly, you've got to calm down." Iya calm voice called out, but Lilly ignored him again, seemingly not even hearing him.

Moving out of the way of a heavy right first coming in, Iya began to ponder on how to calm his friend down. "_I don't want to hurt her. Kaia did more than enough damage to her already, even though thanks to her full demon strength, that's healed. I have to stop her, but how!?_"

Dodging her advances once more, Iya stared at his former friend and felt a twinge of pain from seeing the glowing yellow eyes looking at him. "_I have to stop her, but how without hurting her?_"

Upon pondering the very question, he felt Ketsaiga pulsate. Glancing at the sword that had been with him for years, he drew it and examined it. Once more, it pulsated, seemingly calling out to him. Looking back up at Lilly, realization hit him. "_Ketsaiga can maybe reverse the transformation! But it'll be hard to get her to take hold of it. I'll have to knock her down and keep her pinned till Ketsaiga changes her back. It'll be difficult, but I think I can do it. I just hope this works._"

Pulling the sheath from his obi, Iya once more sheathed Ketsaiga. Rushing forward, he saw Lilly's muscles coiling, as if she was readying herself for a full out attack. Deciding to push on, he kept moving towards her. She instantly struck forward, claws swiping at him. He managed to dodge a great deal of them, but one struck his chest hard, causing a small cracking sound to form. Ignoring the reaction he had felt, Iya pushed Ketsaiga roughly near her neck and began pushing backwards till he tripped her and made her fall to the ground.

On the ground, Iya quickly dug his knees into her arms and used his butt to pin her legs down. She was roughly struggling, but Iya held her down. He quickly pressed Ketsaiga up against her neck and felt the sword pulsate a few times. Instantly, Lilly's body pulsated in correlation. She began to growl loudly and struggle even more when her demon side realized it was being suppressed. Holding fast, Iya held on tightly to Lilly, making sure she didn't escape.

After a few minutes of struggling, Lilly's body went slack and she passed out. Upon doing so, her fangs and claws shrank back to normal and her jagged demonic markings faded away. She soon fell into a sleep, but Iya held fast just in case. Nearly after ten minutes, Iya released her and stood up.

Heavily sighing, Iya noted her body was unharmed apparently, other than a few bad bruises where he had forcefully held her down. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled lightly into the air.

Spotting her and Kagome's clothing, Iya gathered it up and walked back to her body. Sighing once more, Iya placed the clothing in her lap and then gently lifted her up bridal style. Slowly, Iya walked back to camp with a heavy heart and mind.

Remembering the face of the woman who attacked, his eyes flickered while whispering the name "Kaia…"

--

Arriving back at camp, Orihime quickly checked on Lilly, but found the girl had no broken bones or real damage other than where Iya had held her down.

Curious to who attacked, Kagome softly asked Iya "Who was that? Was it a mage?"

Shaking his head lightly, Iya replied "No, she wasn't a mage. That much I'm sure of."

Pausing for a moment, Iya's eyes flickered, and he slowly said "Who it was, I'm not completely sure."

"She mentioned you to us actually Iya." Kagome remarked, making Iya lower his head. "She said something about you liking humans, and something about you taking up with Lilly, which makes no sense to me."

Iya's brow furrowed at this, but he remained quiet. "I don't know who that was, but she reminds me of someone, but it's impossible for it to be her, that much I know." he softly said.

"Anyways, I'm pretty lucky I got away. If not for Lilly, we'd both be back in the mages clutches right about now." Kagome commented.

"Yeah…" Iya murmured.

Heavily sighing, Iya looked up at Sesshomaru and said "Sesshomaru, we need to visit Totosai. It's on the way, and I need to discuss something with him."

Expecting Sesshomaru to argue, Iya waited patiently, but was somewhat shocked at Sesshomaru's words. "Agreed. This Sesshomaru wishes to stop as well."

Iya was going to say something, but softly chuckled instead. "Very well, tomorrow we'll go to Totosai's. His home is close by, so it shouldn't take long." he announced to the others.

"Feh, great, we get to see the old man again…" Inuyasha grumbled.

--

A few hours later, after everyone had settled in to sleep for the night, Lilly finally awoke slowly. Her eyes fluttered open and she lightly groaned. Putting her hand to her head, she slowly sat up and glanced around to find Iya sitting next to her, making her lightly jump in surprise.

"Iya, you scared me." she commented and settled quickly.

Apologetically smiling, he replied "I'm sorry about that."

Looking around, Lilly noticed that they were no longer in the forest near the hot spring, but back at the camp with everyone asleep but herself and Iya. Frowning, she began to ask why she was there when an image flashed through her mind.

There she saw Iya standing before her, saying "_Lilly, calm down. Try and retake control._"

Holding her head, Lilly saw another flash of memory with her swiping madly at Iya. She was loudly snarling and slashing wildly, while Iya continued to evade her.

Tears immediately filled her green eyes. She looked down in shame at her lap and mumbled "It happened again…"

Sympathetically, Iya pulled her into his lap and embraced Lilly tightly, cooing to her "It's alright now Lilly, you're safe."

"I… I could have really hurt you." she sobbed out into his kimono. "If I had hurt or killed you, I… I could…"

"Lilly, it's alright. I'm fine, and you didn't hurt me at all." he softly whispered to her.

Shaking her head roughly against his chest, she wailed "But I lost control again! I could have seriously hurt or killed you, or any of the others!"

Knowing exactly how she felt, Iya held on tightly and said "Lilly, I know you. You wouldn't do it."

Pulling back to have her look him in the face, Iya seriously said "Lilly, from here on, I vow to protect you. I won't let this happen to you again. On my life, I swear I will protect you till my dying breath."

Somewhat shocked, Lilly's tears slowed and she put her head up against his chest and sighed lightly. "Thank you." she lowly mumbled.

"Think nothing of it." Iya mumbled back. Gently, he added "Now then, we should get some rest."

Releasing Iya, Lilly moved out of his lap and back onto the ground into the sleeping bag Kagome had leant her. Covering up, she appreciatively smiled at Iya and said "Thank you Iya, for saving me."

"It was nothing. Just get some sleep." Iya replied.

Standing up, Iya walked softly away to a nearby tree and leapt up into it. Leaning up against the trunk, he closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"_Her transformations are becoming a problem. I think I can fix it though. I'll have to give her something at the Western Stronghold to help her. I just hope no one has bothered it over the years or stolen it._" he silently mumbled in his mind before drifting off to sleep.

--

The next morning, the group rose early and began their trek towards Totosai's home, which was less than a day's travel away. The group kept moving at a quick pace, not even stopping for breaks. By just a little bit past midday, they arrived at long last at the old hermit's home.

Going to the opening of Totosai's cave, Iya called out "Master Totosai, are you home?"

Getting no answer, Iya frowned and walked in, followed by Inuyasha. Looking down at the work area of Totosai, the brothers found the old man laying flat on his back snoring.

"Master Totosai?" Iya asked gently.

Totosai either ignored it or didn't hear a word Iya said, for all he continued to do was loudly snore. Agitated, Inuyasha stalked over to the old man and yelled "OLD MAN, WAKE UP!"

"Give me five more minutes…" Totosai mumbled from his sleep and rolled over onto his left side.

Growling with great irritation, Inuyasha smacked the old man on the head, giving him a knot instantly. "TOTOSAI, GET YOUR ASS UP!" he screamed loudly.

This time around, Totosai stirred and sat up, rubbing the newly formed knot on his head. Yawning, he blinked a few times to look at both Iya and Inuyasha and finally said "Well, I see you two found one another."

"Yes Master Totosai, I managed to find Inuyasha." Iya curtly replied.

"So, why are you here? Did one of you break your swords?" the old man groggily asked.

Gnashing his teeth in an attempt to hold in his anger, Inuyasha angrily grumbled "No Totosai, we didn't break one of our swords…"

Seeing the situation was getting much tenser, Iya stepped over in front of Inuyasha and calmly said "Master Totosai, we've come to ask a favor of you. The mages unfortunately have attacked again, and turned six humans into half demons."

Instantly, Totosai fully woke up and sat up, giving Iya his full attention. Noting he had it, Iya continued on. "Four of the humans are from Inuyasha's pack. One of the other two is from Sesshomaru's, and finally the last was a young woman from a village that I passed through."

Taking this all in, Totosai nodded and slowly said "I see. And you wish for me to do what?"

"I want you to check them out and see how we can keep them from transforming into full demons in the heat of battle when they're badly wounded or about to die." Iya explained.

Knowing what Iya asked of him, Totosai stood and replied "Very well, I shall check them. Hey Myoga, you awake yet!?"

The small flea demon instantly came out of Totosai's clothing and bounced up onto his shoulder and yawned loudly. Glancing up at Iya and Inuyasha, he happily said "Masters Iya and Inuyasha, it's so good to see the two of you again!"

"Myoga, I didn't know you were here." Iya commented. "You just disappeared after I explained things to the others."

With a hesitant voice, Myoga replied "Well, you see, I decided to come visit Totosai after I left the village."

"More like you ran away due that the mages came. You were there till then, I know it." Inuyasha grumbled.

Sweat drops instantly ran down the small demon's face. Urgently, he declared "Master Inuyasha, you know I would never do that!"

"Feh, I know you flee! You run away from danger faster than Miroku runs to a beautiful woman!" Inuyasha spat back.

Heavily sighing, Iya growled out "Let it go."

Stuffing his fists into his sleeves, Inuyasha turned his nose upwards and walked out of the cave. Sighing once more, Iya turned to Totosai and Myoga, asking "Will you help us out Master Totosai?"

"Of course I will. Myoga, we have some examining to do." Totosai calmly said.

Nodding, the flee obediently stayed on the older man's shoulder while the three moved outside. Finding the group of half demons, Iya motioned for Totosai to examine Sango and Miroku first.

Looking Sango over, Totosai said "Myoga, taste her blood to see what we're dealing with."

Hopping off of Totosai, Myoga landed onto Sango's neck and bit in, sucking out a bit of blood. Sango almost swatted at the flee, but remained still. Finishing, Myoga leapt back off of her neck and onto Totosai's shoulder.

"Her blood is definitely that of a half silver fox demon. It seems your plant powers are dormant though. Other than that, everything seems fine so far." Myoga commented.

Examining Hiraikotsu, Totosai finally said "Your Hiraikotsu, it is made of demon bones, thus there is no worries of you transforming so long as you hold it. Your sword, it is also made of demon bone too, correct?"

Getting a responsive nod from her, Totosai added "Then so long as you don't lose both in battle, you should be fine."

"That's good to know." Sango lowly mumbled with a sigh of relief.

Putting a soft hand on her shoulder, Miroku said "It's good to see that Sango can continue to be her foxy self."

The vein on her face instantly popped out and her eyes narrowed. In little motion, she swung around and smacked Miroku's head hard with her fist. Miroku went down to the ground quickly, leaving Sango to stomp off and fume.

"Idiot…" Shippou muttered close by.

Seeing Miroku was still awake, Totosai turned to Myoga and pointed at the former monk turned half demon. Nodding, Myoga leapt onto Miroku and took in a taste of his blood.

Leaping back up onto Totosai's shoulder, Myoga slowly said "Miroku, your blood is rather tasty as well. I must say, for not being a half red fox demon for many days, you sure act like one. Like Sango, you seem fine."

"That staff of yours Miroku, keep it with you. Due that you were a monk and it held some spiritual power, you shouldn't transform. Just make sure to keep it nearby." Totosai added.

Rubbing his head at the sore spot, Miroku lightly nodded and then passed out onto the ground from the injury to his head.

Shaking his head, Totosai moved onto Kohaku while Sango checked up on Miroku. Sighing, she mumbled "I still don't know my own strength."

Walking over to Kohaku, Totosai looked the boy over and then nodded to Myoga, who quickly leapt off the old man's shoulder and sank his teeth into Kohaku.

Upon getting a sip, Myoga instantly sprang up into the air, screaming "HOT, HOT, HOT!!"

Most of the group gave Myoga odd looks, who continued to jump into the air, looking around for something. Finally finding something to quench the flames, he leapt into a nearby bucket, instantly sending out a small steam geyser.

Climbing out of the water, Myoga weakly said "You're definitely a half fire demon. Your blood is very spicy…"

Chuckling at Myoga, Totosai examined the chain scythe on Kohaku's back and asked "Kohaku, your chain scythe is made of demon bone as well, like Sango's weapon, correct?"

"Yes, that's right sir." Kohaku shyly replied. "I also have a sword like she does."

Nodding in reply, Totosai patted his shoulder and walked over to Kagome next. After a minute of impatiently waiting, Totosai watched Myoga slowly hop over to her and land on her neck. He instantly plunged his needle like nose into her and sucked out some blood.

Finishing up, he pulled out and let out a contented sigh, saying "Lady Kagome, your blood is so very tasty, much like Inuyasha's."

"Thanks, I guess…" Kagome mumbled.

Examining her bow and arrows, Totosai asked "Kagome, have you tried to use your miko powers since you've become a half demon?"

Thinking for a moment, Kagome shook her head in a no fashion. Pointing at a nearby tree that had a bull's-eye carved into it, Totosai said "I'd like you to try shooting the tree with an arrow while using your miko powers."

Slightly confused, Kagome lightly nodded and drew an arrow. Notching up the arrow to the bow string, she took aim at the tree and called out her miko powers. Pink energy began flowing through her fingers immediately, but she lightly flinched and the energy dissipated. Letting slack come back into the bow, she dropped both the arrow and bow and examined her hands to find traces of burn marks.

Frowning, she showed her hands to Totosai and the others, saying "For some reason, using my miko energy is making my hands hurt and it burnt them."

Sighing, Totosai mumbled "I figured that might happen." Speaking up, he added "Kagome, now that you're a half demon, your miko powers and demon powers are at war with one another. As you just saw, drawing out your miko powers harms you due that you're using your demon powers also."

"So, what do I do? If I can't shoot my bow, I'll be defenseless!" Kagome quickly explained with a slight look of worry on her face.

"Kagome, in order to use your miko powers, you must learn to control your demonic aura, and determine how much you are outputting. If you learn to put less out, you should be able to fire your arrows easily without burning your hands with your miko powers. It is difficult to learn, I won't lie, but you can do it, I am sure." Totosai explained.

Motioning towards Sesshomaru and Iya, he added "Either Sesshomaru or Iya should be able to teach you how to control your demonic aura. Of course, I would go with Iya, due that he's nicer."

Sesshomaru only threw a hard glare at the sword smith, who recoiled lightly. Straightening up, Totosai said "There is a problem with doing this to help you with your miko powers though."

"Oh? What is it?" Kagome asked innocently, unsure of what he meant.

Sighing lightly, Totosai replied "With you pulling your demonic aura back, you will be left open to a direct attack. I know you're a ranged fighter, but if someone attacks you at close quarters combat, you will be in extreme danger if they manage to harm you or make you believe your life is in danger."

"Why is that?" Inuyasha grunted out nearby.

"Inuyasha, remember when you were badly wounded and didn't have Tetsusaiga?" Totosai asked. He received a nod immediately, in which he said "Your life was in danger, and your demon side took over, transforming you. The same could happen to Kagome, which would be dangerous for her for a very important reason."

Turning dead serious, he looked at Kagome and said "If you began transforming, and you had lowered your demonic aura, that would mean your miko powers would be closer to the surface. Transforming with them so close to the surface would be disastrous for you, due that your own powers would purify your demon form, thus killing you."

Inuyasha, along with Kagome, gasped in shock at this accusation. She instantly fell to her knees and tears began to come to the brims of her eyes. Inuyasha stood there, staring in complete shock and realized the seriousness of her predicament.

"There is a chance though that you can keep from doing this though." Totosai calmly said, getting Kagome to look up with glassy honey colored eyes. "You must learn how to fight hand to hand, as well as control your aura. If you can balance your demonic aura with your miko aura, you should be able to keep yourself from danger. It will take some time, but you should try to do it."

"Right…" Kagome mumbled lowly to herself.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Totosai sadly said "I'm sorry for telling you this, but it's to keep you safe."

Kagome only numbly nodded while Totosai walked off towards Rin. Inuyasha stared at Kagome's back for a few long moments before making up his mind on how to fix the situation.

Walking to where Sesshomaru stood, Totosai cautiously said "Sesshomaru, may I examine the young woman?"

Sesshomaru only curtly nodded. Myoga instantly leaped onto Rin's neck and took a small bite, which earned him a smack from the girl.

"Sorry, it's a natural reaction." she apologized to the flattened flee.

Returning to normal, the flee mumbled "Such is the life of a flee."

Myoga soon enough recovered from his squashing and leaped onto Totosai's shoulder. Settling in, he said "Lady Rin, your blood is very normal. I can find no signs of problems."

"You have no weapons, do you young lady?" Totosai asked.

Rin nodded lightly, but Sesshomaru threw a glare at Totosai, silencing him. Heavily sighing, Totosai said "Very well, you will be fine."

Moving on, he walked over to where Iya and Lilly waited. Frowning, Totosai asked inconsiderately "Who is this girl?"

"She was attacked by Mage Kenshin at a nearby village. Me and Ichigo arrived just in time to keep Kenshin from taking her." Iya explained.

"I see…" Totosai mumbled.

Getting a nod from Totosai, Myoga leapt onto Lilly's neck and took a drink of her blood. He heavily frowned and leapt back onto Totosai's shoulder. His face was greatly troubled as he said "Lilly, your blood has a high concentration of demonic power. If I didn't know any better, I'd guess that you've transformed recently."

Lilly's face instantly sunk into a small bit of sadness while she lowered her head and hid her eyes behind her bangs. Lightly sighing, Iya said "Yes, she did recently: last night to be exact. She also transformed a few days ago too."

"Was her life in danger?" Totosai asked.

"Of course it was Totosai!" Iya irritably growled out.

Thinking for a moment, Totosai responded with "She needs something to seal away her demon blood."

"I realize that. Don't worry, she won't transform again." Iya stated.

Seeing this conversation was agitating Iya, Totosai finally dropped it and said "Well, that's everyone. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Not really. Thank you for your help Master Totosai." Iya humbly said.

Waving Iya off, Totosai walked back into his cave, leaving Iya and the others to themselves. "I think since it's afternoon, we should eat and then head out." Iya commented.

"Feh, whatever." Inuyasha grumbled while walking towards Totosai's cave.

Shrugging, Iya pondered for a moment on something and then smiled. "I know what we can do. We'll do a bit of training for lunch."

The group gave him a confused look with Iya saying "I'm sure most of you know how to hunt, but I want you all to use your half demon senses to hunt."

Understanding now, the group of six half demons all nodded and Iya led the way towards the forest with Ichigo and Orihime trailing.

Noting Sesshomaru wasn't coming, Rin stopped and ran back to him. Seeing her at his side, he softly said "Rin, go with them."

"Alright Lord Sesshomaru. I'll be back soon with some lunch!" she happily said while turning around and running off in the direction of the group.


	18. Chapter 18: A Secret Revealed

Chapter 18

**Hello once more everyone. Well, this weekend was pretty cool. Saturday, I went and saw a play that my one coworker was in, called "Teahouse of the August Moon." It was very excellent and hilarious. I had been helping him rehearse lines for it for the last month or so, and it seemed to help, I hope, lol. He was in the lead role, playing the part of Captain Fisby. I know, some of you have no clue what I'm talking about. Heh, probably all have no clue, lol. Anyways, if ever you hear this play is coming to town or is playing somewhere, I definitely suggest seeing it. Ah yes, and then that night, I realized I had a sinus infection. It got worse throughout Saturday night into Sunday morning. I decided to go nowhere and stayed at home, taking plenty medicine and hot liquids to try and get better. I'm a bit better today, but I'm still a little under the weather, but oh well.**

**Writing wise, I finally got a section of this story done that I had been stalled out on for a while. I finally had enough time yesterday to work on it, and forced myself to finish it, so yay! I've also been trying to work on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, but I usually only work on it during the day, which I had no real time to do this weekend.**

**Anyways, moving on, time for the reviews!**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: LOL! True, all the Taisho boys seem to make vows to protect someone they care about. Heh, yes, Iya is a bit more of a gentleman than the others, well, except maybe Sesshomaru, but he's not much of a talker, lol. Yes, this new foe in the form of Kaia will be something interesting. More on her will be explained later on, so no worries. Glad you liked this chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Lol, kind of short, but very nice nonetheless. Btw, I forgot to mention last time thanks to those people that most recently added me to their favs list for this story. I don't think I said it last time, but if I did, I'll say it again, lol.**

**Btw, if anyone has any questions or comments on this story, please let me know. I won't snap at you or anything like that, lol. I enjoy reading feedback. It helps me determine if what I'm writing is actually making it through. So, to anyone who has any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to review or PM me. I will kindly reply to any kind of feedback, because I like the good and the bad. (/hears western music\)**

**Ok, maybe it's time I get back to real life. At any rate, thanks to everyone for everything so far. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 18**

Finding Totosai inside his cave sitting at his fire, Inuyasha pulled Tetsusaiga from his obi and plopped down onto the ground beside of the old man. Laying the sword in his lap, he stuffed his fists in his sleeves and let out a sigh.

"What ails you, pup?" Totosai asked.

Lightly agitated by Totosai's accusation that he was a pup still yet, Inuyasha calmed and gently said "I'm worried about Kagome…"

Turning to Inuyasha, Totosai saw the concern within his eyes and the tension within his body. "You deeply care about her, don't you, pup?"

Clenching his fists within his kimono, Inuyasha quelled his anger and lightly nodded. "She's very important to me Totosai. I don't want her to die due to her own powers."

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and humbly as possible said "Totosai, I want you to make a sword for her from my fangs."

Somewhat shocked by Inuyasha's actions, Totosai sat staring with his mouth agape. Getting no answer, Inuyasha clenched his teeth and finally reopened his eyes quickly, growling out "Will you make the sword!?"

Taking a moment to respond, Totosai said "Yes, I will make you a sword for her. I take it you want the sword to be able to use her miko powers, along with her demonic powers?"

Getting a nod in reply, Totosai grabbed a nearby pair of pliers and said "Open up Inuyasha. I need two fangs to make this sword."

Readying himself for the pain, Inuyasha opened his mouth. Totosai gently placed his pliers onto one of Inuyasha's top fangs and then yanked hard, making Inuyasha yelp out in pain. Placing the fang down onto his anvil, Totosai moved back towards Inuyasha with the pliers again. Grudgingly, Inuyasha opened his mouth again, only to receive another yank and loss of another fang. Putting both fangs together, Totosai set down his pliers.

"There, that didn't hurt too much, did it?" the old man sarcastically asked, earning himself a lump on the head from Inuyasha's fist, causing a small bump to bubble up.

Fisting his hands and stuffing them into his kimono, he grumbled "Damn old man…"

Sighing lightly, he asked softly "How long will it take?"

"Three days." Totosai nonchalantly replied. "In three days, I shall have the finest sword ready for Kagome."

Standing up and putting Tetsusaiga back into his obi, Inuyasha nodded and said "In three days time, come find us. We'll be at the Western Stronghold by then, I suppose."

Turning to leave, Inuyasha began to walk out but stopped suddenly. Turning around and walking back, he gruffly barked out "Totosai, bring that set of robes I gave you too. I want to give them to Kagome also."

"Robes?" Totosai asked curiously.

Growling lightly, Inuyasha gruffly replied "Yes Totosai, the robes I gave to you for safe keeping. You know, the ones of the fire rat that I killed."

Thinking for a moment, Totosai scratched his head and asked again "Robes?"

Deeply growling with the vein on his head bulging out, Inuyasha yelled "Yes, the robes made up of the fire rat that I killed! Remember, it was the wrong color for me!?"

Smacking his fist into his palm, Totosai declared "Oh, the set that made you look like a girl!"

Whacking the old man over the head with his fist once more, Inuyasha turned away and growled out "Make sure you bring them with you Totosai!"

"Bring what when?" Totosai asked.

Clenching his teeth, Inuyasha closed his eyes and clenched his fist and lowly growled out "The sword and the robes Totosai, bring them when you meet up with us at the Western Stronghold in three days!"

"I know that. You don't have to yell!" Totosai remarked.

Heavily sighing, Inuyasha walked began walking out of the cave. Yelling over his shoulder, he said "I'm counting on you old man."

--

Not nearly five minutes after Inuyasha had left the cave, Sesshomaru walked into the cave alone, finding Totosai hard at work already at making a sword.

Sensing Sesshomaru's presence, Totosai stopped what he was doing and turned to Sesshomaru and humbly asked "Sesshomaru, what may I do for you?"

"The sword this Sesshomaru commissioned you to make a year ago, is it done?" Sesshomaru stoically questioned.

Getting up, Totosai walked over to the nearby shelf and rummaged around through it for a few moments. Finally finding a cloth covering something, he pulled it off and smiled. Gently, he picked up a sword that had a black sheath. The hilt was beautifully crafted out of white demon bone with a brown lace covering it, and a red silk ribbon hanging off of it's tip.

Handing it to Sesshomaru, Totosai said "I completed it to your specifications, and I think you will be most pleased with it."

Taking hold of the sword, Sesshomaru drew it from it's sheath and examined the blade. It was sharp and finely crafted. Swinging it through the air, the sword made a small whistling sound from where it cut through the wind. Satisfied with the sword, Sesshomaru sheathed it once more.

"Do you like it?" Totosai asked.

Nodding curtly, Sesshomaru replied "It shall do. Thank you Totosai."

"Don't mention it. Now, if you excuse me, I have some work to do."

Without a word, Sesshomaru turned and left the cave, leaving Totosai to his work once more. Smirking once he had left, Totosai lightly chuckled and said "The dog is more like the old dog than he'll ever know."

--

After a successful hunting trip, the group had returned with lunch and soon had it hanging over the fire to be cooked. Upon finishing up lunch, the group bid farewell to Totosai and Myoga, and began their journey once more.

With only an hour till dark, Iya stopped the group to make camp. Glancing at the sky, Iya grumbled lowly to himself and said "We'll get dinner and then rest for the night."

"What, no training?" Lilly merrily asked.

Sighing, Iya mumbled "Not tonight."

That said, Iya walked away towards the forest, leaving the entire group with a frown on their faces to why he was acting that way.

Breaking the silence, Sesshomaru said "Rin, come."

Hearing him, Rin smiled and followed behind the white haired demon into a different part of the forest.

Grumbling, Inuyasha said "What the hell is Iya's problem? He said we need to train you guys, then he says not tonight!"

Thinking on Inuyasha's words, Miroku finally said "Maybe he's not feeling well."

"He's a half demon. He should be fine." Inuyasha barked back.

Without a word, Lilly slowly began to walk away from the group in the direction Iya had walked, which caught Kagome's eye. "Lilly, where are you going?" she softly asked.

Not bothering to turn around, Lilly replied "I'm going to check on Iya. If something is wrong with him, I'll find out."

With that said, Lilly continued on into the forest, leaving the others behind. Ichigo only merely chuckled at the group and said "Well, Iya may not do the training tonight, but I'll have you all do some. Come on Inuyasha and Orihime, let's get them started."

--

Sitting near a cliff overlooking a river below, Iya lightly sighed. Glancing up at the sky, he saw the setting sun and lightly grunted at it. Taking a whiff of the air, he picked up Lilly's scent of raspberries and sighed once more.

Hearing her approach, Iya softly asked "Lilly, why did you come out here?"

Taking a seat beside of Iya, Lilly glanced at him with a concerned look, which he saw out of the corner of his eye. The glance she gave him made his heart feel a small flutter, but he quickly pushed the feeling away and returned to the current situation.

"I was worried about you. It's not like you to just walk off like that, and to call off training isn't like you." she simply stated. "Is something wrong?"

Not even turning to look at her, he flatly said "I just want to be alone tonight is all."

"Was it something Totosai said?" she asked, concern oozing from her voice.

"No."

"Iya, I'm worried about you. Please, talk to me." Lilly pleaded. Quieting for a moment, she finally asked with guilt in her voice "Is it about last night?"

Instantly turning to face Lilly, Iya softened his expression and took her hand within his own. "Lilly, no, it's not about that. It's about tonight."

Sighing, he glanced up at the setting sun and saw that it was barely above the horizon still yet. Estimating what was left, he guessed he only had a few minutes left before 'it' would happen.

"What about tonight Iya?" Lilly prodded, breaking him from his thoughts.

Letting out a loud sigh, Iya saw that the sun was now fully gone, with the last bit of it slipping below the horizon. "You're about to see." he mumbled lowly.

With the darkness slightly taking over, Iya's body pulsated. His dog ears slowly began to vanish while human ears slowly appeared on the side of his head. His hair remained black, but seemed to become glossy. His fangs pulled back, and his claws vanished. At long last, he opened his eyes, revealing chocolate orbs.

Lilly stared in shock at Iya, but felt her own body pulsate, much to her surprise. Like Iya, her cat ears vanished and human ears took their place. Her tail slowly pulled back within her body, while her claws and fangs pulled back. Next, her hair returned to a solid black color. Her eyes were last to change, with her cat eyes changing from green to a beautiful shade of sky blue.

In complete shock, Lilly sat up onto her knees and examined her hands and felt the top of her head, but quickly reached around to her butt to feel for her missing tail. Finding it gone, she looked at Iya with confusion, asking "What's happening to us!? Why are we humans? I thought I couldn't become one ever again!?"

"Calm down Lilly." he softly said.

"Calm down!? How can I when we just became humans!?" Lilly asked in a panic.

Sighing heavily, Iya replied "Sit down and I'll explain everything to you. Just settle down, will you please?"

Still frantic, Lilly obeyed and sat back down onto the ground and turned to look Iya in the face. Satisfied that she was calm enough, Iya let out a small sigh.

"Lilly, first of all, the reason I'm human right now is due that this is the night of the full moon. Like my mother before me, this is the one night a month when I have my period of weakness." Iya explained.

Frowning, Lilly asked "Period of weakness?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya smiled and said "The one night my demonic powers leave my body completely and I become human. Every half demon has one. Mine just happens to be tonight, the night of the full moon. Most half demons have them on different nights of the moon phases, but some have them during the day, or even some for an entire day. It just depends on their demon blood."

"So, right now, you're completely human?" Lilly asked curiously.

Nodding in reply, Iya said "Yes, right now I'm one hundred percent human. I'll stay this way the rest of the night, till dawn. Do you understand?"

"I suppose." Lilly mumbled. Looking at her own hands, she asked "What about me though? Why am I human right now?"

Pondering on her question for a moment, Iya finally responded with "I suppose your human night is tonight. Like I said, all half demons have one, even you and the others that were transformed by the mages. Your night just happens to be tonight, the night of the full moon."

Lightly chuckling, he added "I suppose it's kind of ironic that we have the same night. We can keep one another company during it."

"Is this why you left the group earlier?"

Looking up at the sky, Iya nodded and said "Yes, it's why. I'm sure none of them would have cared if I became human tonight, but it's something I like to keep hidden. It's a half demon's greatest secret really. If a half demon's enemy caught wind of when their human night was, an enemy could plan an attack for that night and possibly kill a half demon. On their human night, they're like any other human, just as vulnerable to wounds and so on."

"So, if I got in a fight now, and was badly wounded, my body wouldn't be able to heal as quickly, would it?" Lilly slowly asked.

"Nope, it wouldn't. That is part of the reason I said no training tonight. If I got hurt badly during training, I would have to hold on till dawn to fully recuperate, and that's something we don't have time for." Iya remarked.

Understanding, Lilly softly smiled at him. Examining his human body, her cheeks heated lightly. "_He's so handsome when he's a half demon, but as a human he's just as gorgeous._"

Knowing her eyes were on him, Iya snuck a peek at her body and felt his own cheeks heat up from it. Shaking his head and looking away, he sighed. "_She's so beautiful, and yet I know I shouldn't be thinking this._" he softly scolded.

Regaining her composure, Lilly asked "Do you plan on staying out here tonight?"

"Yes. I don't want the others to think they have to protect me tonight."

"But it's not weak to ask others for protection." Lilly chided.

Softly smiling, Iya nodded and said "I know. I just prefer to be alone on my human nights."

"Doesn't it get lonely?" she softly asked, making Iya somewhat stiffen.

Taking a few moments to think on her words, he sighed and slowly said "I suppose so. For the last two hundred and fifty-five years, I've stayed by myself on my human nights. I never went around human villages or anything else so that I could keep a low profile and keep my secret hidden. You're actually only the second one to know my secret since I began this mission."

Warmly smiling, Lilly asked "Ichigo found out, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. We hadn't been travelling together long when he found out." Iya said with a small chuckle. "Even though he knew, I still stayed alone. It's just something I've done."

"Still, I would think you'd be lonely. Traveling alone for nearly two and half centuries had to be hard and even harder when you had to stay alone when you became human. I don't think I could ever do it." Lilly commented.

Looking into her eyes, Iya softly smiled and replied "It is, but you get used to it. I didn't like it at first, but I eventually got used to it. It just takes time."

Pausing for a moment, Iya added "But it's nice to have you here to keep me company."

Smiling warmly at Iya, Lilly felt her cheeks warm a bit and mumbled "It's nice to know that I won't be alone either."

Standing up, she offered her hand to him, saying "Let's go back to camp. You've been alone as a human for too long."

Pondering on her words for a moment, Iya finally accepted her hand. With her help, he stood up and mumbled "Alright."

"They won't bite you, I don't think." Lilly joked, earning a small grin from Iya.

Pulling him with her hand, the pair began walking in the direction of camp. The moon was slowly rising up on the horizon, giving the two former half demons light to walk by.

In the woods, nearby, a pair of red eyes watched the pair with interest while licking his lips. Sneering, the eyes quickly moved ahead of the slowly walking humans till finally it leapt out of the woods and in front of them.

Iya had barely heard the creature coming, but was a bit unsure where from due that his senses were dulled and pretty much useless. Seeing the creature before him, he instantly figured out what kind of demon it was.

Standing before Iya and Lilly was a low level grey scaled snake demon. It had red glowing eyes and a forked tongue flicking in and out.

Lilly instantly tensed up at the sight of the demon, but Iya pushed her behind him. Staring at the demon, he calmly said "Step aside."

Darkly chuckling, the snake demon replied with a hiss "Why should I do that human? You two are my dinner, and I won't be denied it."

"Step aside if you wish to live." Iya remarked.

Bursting out into a laugh, the snake demon hissed out "You think you can kill me? A piece of human trash like you could never perform such a feat! I think I'll eat you first for your insolence!"

Rushing forward, the snake bared it's fangs and prepared to strike. Roughly pushing Lilly backwards, Iya drew Ketsaiga from it's sheath. It instantly transformed upon being drawn, surprising not only the snake demon but Lilly also.

Swinging the blade at the demon, Iya cut into it, giving it a large gash on it's face. Leaping back to move in front of Lilly once more, Iya calmly said "Last warning. Leave now or I'll kill you."

With blood dripping from it's wound, the snake stared at Iya for a moment before hissing out "You'll die for that human!"

Moving at an incredible speed, the snake demon struck at Iya, who barely dodged it. Whipping around with Ketsaiga, Iya cut deeper into the snake this time with a mighty swing, making the snake howl out in pain. Leaping away a bit, Iya slammed Ketsaiga hard into the ground, crying out "Wind Slash!"

A blast of white concentrated energy instantly went flying straight at the snake demon, who looked at the blast of demonic energy in shock. The blast tore through the snake easily, obliterating it and leaving nothing behind but dust.

Panting lightly, Iya reversed Ketsaiga's transformation and sheathed it once more before falling to one knee. Rushing to Iya's side, Lilly kneeled down and quickly asked "Are you alright!?"

Looking at his hands that had burn marks, Iya slowly replied "Yes…"

Seeing his hands were burned, she asked "What happened? Why did your hands get burnt?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya slowly said "I'm not supposed to use Ketsaiga in my human form. When I do, it burns my hands due to the great demonic power within the sword. I'm lucky that I've rarely had to use it in this form."

"So, you can't really use Ketsaiga while in human form?" Lilly inquisitively asked.

Nodding in response, Iya replied "Humans were not meant to handle demonic weapons, like Ketsaiga. Normally, I never use it while human, but when attacked and I have no choice, I do. Still, I use it sparingly due to the very reason you see right now."

Understanding, Lilly nodded and stood back up. Iya soon stood too and took a deep breath. Gently taking Iya's hand, Lilly smiled and led him back towards camp. Along the way, neither human could help but feel their cheeks heating from the contact.

--

Making it back to camp without any further incident, Iya and Lilly found they were alone at it. Both sighed noted there was no fire.

"They must be hunting." Iya commented while gathering up a bundle of sticks to use for the fire.

Helping Iya out, Lilly began picking up kindling to help get the fire going and the two soon had enough to start a fire. After arranging the kindling, Iya began striking the two stones together that he had found. A few tries later and some of the sparks caught hold in the kindling, causing flames to slowly erupt from it.

Once the fire was going, the two sat down onto a nearby log and glanced up at the sky that was lit up by the full moon.

"It's a beautiful night." Lilly commented, breaking Iya's eyes away from the sky to look at her face.

Smiling at her, Iya nodded and looked back up at the sky. Staring at the sky, he heard Lilly shuffle lightly before finally asking "Iya, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Iya calmly remarked while looking back down at her.

Her cheeks lightly heated, forcing her to look away. Finally gathering up her courage, she said "You asked me a few days ago if I was being courted or married. I was curious, do you have a wife or are courting someone?"

Chuckling at the question, Iya grinned and said "No, I'm not courting anyone or mated."

"Mated?" Lilly asked curiously.

"Mated is a term demons use for marriage. Instead of having a public ceremony and a big ordeal like most humans do, demons do a private ceremony." Iya explained. "Demons find a potential mate and ask to court them. Some demons have courtship rituals that require them to do something, while others just get closer to their possible mates."

Pausing for a moment, Iya added "When the two finally decide to mate, they perform a private ceremony, where only the two of them are alone."

Remembering how his father described it to him, Iya's cheeks heated when he said "The two… um, come… together in bed."

"Come together in bed?" Lilly questioned.

Feeling his cheeks heating up even more, Iya mumbled "It's what a man and woman do alone in bed…"

Thinking about it for a moment, suddenly Lilly's cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "Oh, that…"

"Yes, that." Iya mumbled. "Anyways, once 'that' is done, the male demon will mark the female demon."

"Mark?"

"He bites her neck with his fangs, placing a mark on her that proves who she is mated with and wards off other male demons. Normally, male demons will mark the female demon, but when two demons are in love, the male demon will allow the female demon to mark him back. When that happens, the two are lifetime mates, meaning neither will ever take another mate if the other dies." Iya explained.

"Sounds romantic…" Lilly murmured. Glancing at his neck, she said "You don't have a mark on your neck."

"No, I don't." Iya replied. "I've never taken a mate. Heh, I have had no time to ever try and search out a mate."

Sighing, he added "Besides, what kind of person would want me for a mate? I'm always gone, and never around. No woman, being human, half demon, or demon would want their mate gone all the time."

Lilly felt a touch of sadness for Iya upon hearing his words and said "I'm sure they'd understand. After all, what you're doing is very important."

"Maybe… Besides, unlike Sesshomaru, I don't have the looks to land a mate." Iya mumbled.

Smiling inwardly, Lilly remained quiet. "_Iya, I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, and you'd see what I see. A handsome young man, who is very dedicated to his friends and family, and is loyal to no ends in fulfilling his father's last wishes. If only I could have someone like you, life would be so complete._"

Blushing at her thoughts, Lilly shook her head lightly and tried to clear her mind. "_What could he possibly want with me, a mere mortal turned half demon? I'm sure he wants a powerful mate, not one who is so weak she transforms when her life is always in danger._"

Unhappily sighing, Lilly looked up at the sky. Noting Lilly's quietness, Iya softly smiled inwardly. "_If only I could get to know you better. I'm sure you'd make a wonderful mate._"

Pushing the thoughts aside, he mentally scolded himself over such thoughts. "_This isn't the time to be thinking about mates. I have too many things to complete and finish up before I could ever find a mate. And besides, why would she want to mate with me. I'm a half demon and she's really a human forced to be a half demon._"

Glancing back up at the sky, the pair sat staring at the sky. For nearly an hour, the pair sat, with Iya only occasionally stoking the fire.

The silence was finally broken by the sound of the others coming out of the forest. One by one, the group filed out. The group of instantly saw the two humans, but recognized the clothing.

"Feh, so that's what the hell was wrong with you earlier." Inuyasha grumbled.

Eyeing Lilly over, Kagome asked "Lilly, what happened?"

Softly smiling, Lilly replied "It's my human night. I didn't know about it till Iya explained it."

"Miss Lilly, you look rather lovely." Miroku complimented, earning a small blush from Lilly. Moving in front of her, he took her hand and asked "Lilly, would you consider bearing my children?"

With a solid strike to the head, Miroku toppled over, revealing a fuming Sango with a vein popping out from her head. "DAMN IT MONK, YOU KNOW YOU'RE ENGAGED TO ME!" she snarled loudly, making everyone sweat drop.

Grabbing him by his foot, Sango dragged an unconscious Miroku off to a nearby tree and leaned him up against it before stomping off in the direction of a nearby stream.

Lightly shaking on Kagome's shoulder, Shippou weakly said "She's very scary when she's angry."

Shrugging it off, the group settled in while Inuyasha and Ichigo walked off to do some hunting. Miroku eventually awoke, with Sango nearby. Knowing better than do anything else, he walked over and sat with her, wrapping her in his arms.

Once dinner had been brought back and cooked, Rin and Sesshomaru eventually came in from their own training. Rin had multiple cuts on her body, a few even on her face. They weren't life threatening, but they earned Sesshomaru many glares. Orihime instantly healed Rin, who protested that she was fine, but allowed her to do it anyways.

Everyone soon settled in for the night, leaving nothing but the night sounds. Iya relaxed in a tree, which he had managed to scale on his own due that he had trained his human body to do such feats.

His eyes were drooping, with his mind slowly falling into the grasps of nothingness when he heard from a branch below him "You're not actually going to sleep, now are you?"

Grunting out of irritation that Inuyasha would ask him such a question, he replied "Yes, I am. Why, don't you sleep on your human night?"

Staring up at his older brother, Inuyasha shook his head and said "Feh, no."

"Afraid you'll stay human if you fall asleep?" Iya teasingly asked.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Inuyasha snapped back.

"Then why not sleep while human?" Iya pushed.

Grunting, Inuyasha muttered "Because…"

Lightly chuckling at his younger brother, Iya again relaxed against the tree and closed his eyes. Finally, sleep came to him, leaving the group silent the rest of the night.

--

Dawn was slowly approaching when Iya woke up. Stretching out, he glanced up at the fading darkness and softly smiled. "_I survive yet another human night._"

Tearing his eyes away from the sky, he glanced at the group that lay asleep yet. His eyes fell upon a certain human young woman who was still fast asleep. Softly smiling, he noted how comfortable she looked.

A thought suddenly struck him about the sleeping figure, making him feel slightly guilty over how he viewed his own human nights. "_This could be the last time..._"

Breaking his mind of the thoughts, he gently leapt out of the tree. Landing gracefully onto the ground, he glanced up to see Inuyasha was still resting on his limb. He had heard Iya leave the tree, but remained quiet.

Returning his attention back to the young woman with black hair, Iya walked over to where the group laid and made his way to Lilly. Quietly, he kneeled down to see her sweet face.

In a mere whisper, he said "Lilly."

She seemed to hear him and only snuggled deeper into her covers. Softly smiling at this, Iya gently shook her and whispered her name again.

This time he got more of a reaction, with her eyes slowly fluttering open and looking at his face. Focusing in on it, she grumbled and asked "What is it Iya?"

"Come with me." he quietly commanded.

With a big yawn, she sat up and slowly stood. Following Iya to the same cliff they had visited the night before, she yawned once more and looked down the cliff to see the stream still flowing like the night before.

"Why did you get me up and bring me here?" she sleepily asked.

Softly smiling, Iya pointed towards the mountain in the distance where the sun was trying to rise from. "The sun is about to rise." he commented.

"I've seen a sunrise before Iya. Why did you get me up?" she grumpily asked.

Smiling once more, Iya smoothly replied "To make a promise."

Turning towards him, she raised an eyebrow and asked "A promise?"

"Yes, a promise." Iya remarked. "I pledge to you that you will see another sunrise with your human eyes. I swear it Lilly, that we will break the spell that binds you to Kenshin."

Softly gasping at the vow he just made, Lilly was speechless and couldn't think what to say. She was about to say something when suddenly the sun burst over the mountain top, sending it's blinding rays towards them.

Instantly, she felt her body pulsate in response to the sunrays, and noted Iya's body responded the same way. She flinched physically when she felt her claws growing out once more and her fangs returning. Her ears vanished once more, only to be replaced by her cat ears again. Slowly, her tail returned as well, which she gave a small swish to make sure it was fine. At the same time, her eyes changed color once more, resuming their emerald green coloring.

While this happened, Iya's body transformed back to it's normal self as well, making Lilly softly smile at him. Looking into his eyes, she saw they now were their original muddy brown color, a color that she loved.

"Does it always hurt when we transform back into half demons?" she weakly asked.

Shrugging, Iya replied "A bit. After a while, you get used to it. It's not as bad as when I transform into my dog form. That is more painful really."

"I see." she murmured lowly. Smiling at Iya, she added "Thank you Iya, for everything."

"Think nothing of it." he warmly replied. "Let's go get the others up and get ready to head out."


	19. Chapter 19: Home Again

Chapter 19

**Hey people. Well, this week has gone by fast, and sucked at the same time, lol. First off, I'm nearly over my sinus infection, thankfully, or so I thought. Yesterday, my sore throat returned, and it's still around today… I'm unsure why, but it is back. I think my sinuses are still draining. Eh, I have a doctor's appointment next week anyways, so if I'm not better by then, the doc maybe able to help me out. At any rate, the other sucky part about this week was yesterday. My mate found out she can't get off for our vacation. She hadn't put in to get off yet, but someone else had already asked for that week. When she found out, she tried to talk to the boss, but the boss wouldn't let her off, so we have to figure out a new plan. We may try and move our vacation a week or two back, or see if we can get the deposit on our trip back. We'll see, one way or another. At any rate, other than those two things, life isn't bad.**

**Writing wise, I'm getting plenty done on this story. I'm getting freed up from my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, for a short time, so I can maybe write on this story. Still, that doesn't mean I may accomplish much, lol. That always sucks.**

**I'd like to thank the people who added me to their favs last time. I can never remember who does it, nor do I keep the emails (to keep it from overfilling). At any rate, thanks for the add. And now then, time to read through the reviews.**

**NaKeva Rapp Cullen: LOL! Yeah, logging in sucks sometimes, so why bother, hehe. Glad you thought this was a good chapter. Yep, Iya turns human on the night of the full moon, along with Lilly. Heh, Kagome's human night could be any time, so you never know. Could be on a dark moon, or any other phase (other than full, hehe). Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks. Heh, Totosai's sword for Kagome should be interesting, needless to say. Yep, creating new swords is fun. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for me. Thanks for the two reviews. To anyone who hasn't reviewed, but has comments or questions, please, I do urge you to review. I will be more than happy to answer any and all questions or comments, so long as they don't ask for me to give away the plot. Heh, I have standards, lol. But at any rate, that does it for me.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 19**

For the next two days, the group traveled a majority of the day, only stopping in the afternoon for a small lunch break, then heading out once again till nearly dark. Before dark, they would train, eat, clean up, and sleep once more.

The next day, early that morning, the sight of the Western Stronghold finally came into view. There were many relieved sighs and some gasps at it's sight.

Moving on, they arrived at the gates within an hour. Dog demon guards, each with long white hair bound in a pony tail and wearing white kimonos with crescent moons on their sleeves and armor chest plates, stood at the gates that protected the stronghold, keeping an eye on any that wished to enter.

Walking to the gates, the guards stopped the group. Sesshomaru and Iya both stepped forward, with the guards instantly recognizing Sesshomaru. Both fell to their knees immediately, with one humbly saying "Lord Sesshomaru."

"You may stand." Sesshomaru stoically commented.

Standing back up, the guard that had spoken looked inquisitively at the group and asked "My lord, who are these **half breeds** accompanying you? Are they prisoners?"

Growling lowly, Iya sternly said "Show some respect for the three sons of former Lord Inutaisho!"

Looking at Iya, the guard smirked and smugly replied "Lord Inutaisho only had one pure bred son, Lord Sesshomaru. His other sons have not been seen and are thought dead."

Bristling up, Iya began to say something, but Sesshomaru cut him off. "You will pay respect to this Sesshomaru's younger brothers and his companions, or shall I teach you respect Raal?"

Backing off, the guard, known as Raal, looked at Iya, then at Sesshomaru. After a moment, it sunk in who the he was. Quickly kneeling, he humbly, if not forcibly, said "Forgive me my lords. I did not know you were the sons of Lord Inutaisho and brothers of Lord Sesshomaru."

Glaring at the kneeling guard, Sesshomaru calmly remarked "Don't let it happen again."

With that said, the group moved onwards into the courtyard of the Western Stronghold. In the middle of it, Jaken came running out and bowed to the ground in front of Sesshomaru, saying "Lord Sesshomaru, you've returned!"

"Jaken." Sesshomaru acknowledged, letting the small green demon know he could stand once more.

Looking at the group, Jaken frowned and asked timidly "Where is Rin, my lord?"

Rushing forward and bending down to his level, Rin smiled and merrily said "I'm right here Master Jaken!"

"You're not Rin! Get away from me girl!" Jaken grumpily snapped.

"Jaken!" Sesshomaru grunted, making the small demon shrink back lightly.

Taking a second look at Rin, Jaken squinted his eyes hard at the girl and suddenly realization set in. "Rin, it is you!" he shouted in shock. "But how!?"

"Jaken, see to our guests. Find them rooms." Sesshomaru commanded.

Nodding immediately, Jaken bowed and replied "Yes my lord."

Turning to Rin, Sesshomaru softly said "Rin, come."

Standing back up, Rin smiled warmly and replied "Yes Lord Sesshomaru!"

Sesshomaru led Rin away while Jaken motioned for the group to follow him into the Western Stronghold. Once inside the front doors, the group, except for Iya and Inuyasha, gasped at the extravagance and elegance the building had.

"It's like a dream…" Lilly mumbled.

Kagome, Sango, and Orihime all three glanced around with wide eyes, each surprised at the beauty of the room. The walls were made of fine cut white marble, with many beautiful tapestries covering them. Fine pieces of pottery and other artwork littered the room.

A young woman, dressed in a fine black kimono with black hair pulled up into a bun covered by a green cloth and a ribbon came forward, but instantly smiled great big at the group.

"LORD IYA!" the woman squealed happily and rushed forward to Iya's feet and bowed humbly.

She quickly rose up and hugged him, saying "I'm so happy you've finally come home!"

Hugging her back, Iya softly chuckled and pulled back to look the young woman in the face. "Momo, I'm glad to see you're rather well." he commented.

"Yes my lord, I'm doing fine. It's been so dull and boring without you around. Lord Sesshomaru is not one for much fun anymore." Momo solemnly mumbled.

Lightly chuckling at this, Iya smiled and said "It's good to know you're around though. I figured you might be."

Once more they hugged, only to earn a small glare from Lilly. Jealousy stirred within her, but when she realized that it was happening, she lightly blushed. "_Why should I care who he talks to or hugs!? Not like I really like him or anything..._"

Breaking from her thoughts, Lilly heard Jaken squawk out "Momo, get to work and show these people to some rooms!"

Glaring at the little demon, Iya calmly sternly said "You may leave now Jaken. I believe I can help Momo in showing us to some rooms."

Taking offense to this, the little demon prepared to fire back when he got a death glare from Iya. Knowing Iya's standing and rank, the little demon shut up and scuttled off.

"Thank you." Momo quietly said.

Lightly smiling, Iya replied "Think nothing of it. I take it he likes to bark out orders?"

"Constantly." Momo replied with a smirk.

Chuckling at her comment, Iya motioned for them to move on. Momo nodded and said "Follow me everyone and I shall show you to your rooms."

Falling in line, the group of half demons trailed Momo down the hallways. Noting Momo's scent, Kagome asked "Momo, you're not a full dog demon, are you?"

Smiling at the question, Momo glanced back and nodded her head. "No, my mother was a wolf demon and my father was a dog demon. I'm half of each."

"That must be nice to have a bit of each world." Sango commented.

Letting out a small giggle, Momo replied "It is kind of nice, although it's also troublesome. I'm not one or the other, but yet I am both. At least both my parents belonged to the same types of animal, otherwise I'd be thoroughly confused."

The girls of the group all giggled at this, while Ichigo, Inuyasha, Iya, Kohaku, and Miroku only shrugged.

Finding that they were nearing the southern wing, Iya moved in front to Momo and had her stop. "Momo, I take it my room is still here, correct?"

Smiling, she nodded and said "Yes, your room is in top order. After you left all those years ago, I made sure it remained clean for you. It should be as you left it."

"Thank you Momo. Would you do me a favor and take the others on to their rooms while I go to mine? And once you're done, could you come to my room?" Iya asked.

Nodding, Momo replied "Of course Lord Iya."

Turning to the group, Iya calmly said "Guys, go with Momo. She'll show you to your rooms. After a while, I'll come get you."

The group nodded to this, which prompted Iya to turn to Momo, saying "Take good care of them."

"I shall Lord Iya." Momo replied with a smile. She bowed lightly and then said to the group "Let's continue on."

The group moved on, leaving Iya standing. Walking off into the southern wing, Iya smiled at the sight of it. The scents of the wing were nearly the same as when he had actually lived here. The only scent missing was his own, which he knew would never survive for over two hundred years.

Finding his room, he opened it and smiled. Walking in, he took in the scents of it, finding the scent of the roses still were in the room. Finding the flowers sitting on his vanity, he smiled and moved closer to them, inhaling their scent deeply and letting a soft smile grace his face.

"I'm glad to see mother's flowers are still living." he softly mumbled.

Pulling Ketsaiga from his sash, he laid it on the bed and undid his obi, allowing his kimono top to flow open. Walking to the shoji door on the far side of the room, he slid it open to see his private hot spring was still within its secluded walls, like all other hot springs were for the residents of the stronghold.

Stripping out of his clothing and grabbing a nearby towel, Iya walked out and shut the door behind him. Setting his towel on a nearby edge of the hot spring, he walked into the warm water and gently sank into the warm water, allowing it to come up to his chest. Adjusting to the temperature, he sighed contently and dunked his head under the water, only to resurface soon enough. Shaking the water out of his ears, he leaned back up against the wall of the hot spring, enjoying the feelings that the water was having on his body.

Soaking for nearly ten minutes, he heard a knock at his bedroom door. Swiveling his ears, Iya heard a familiar voice ask if she could come in. Knowing she couldn't really hear him, he remained quiet while he heard his door open. Soft steps padded across his room towards the shoji door that led to his hot spring. The steps fell silent outside of the door, making Iya softly smirk.

"Lord Iya?" Momo's soft voice called.

"Come on out Momo, just don't peek." he called out.

The shoji door opened, with Momo walking out. She looked away from him, making sure not to look at his body. Taking a seat near the hot spring, she shyly said "I didn't expect to find you out here Lord Iya."

"You can dispense with the formality." Iya calmly remarked. "We're friends after all Momo. You might be my personal servant, but like always, you are my friend first, thus while we're alone, you don't have to be formal with me."

Relaxing a bit, Momo nodded and replied "Very well Iya."

Sighing a bit, Iya turned around to face Momo. Taking in her scent, he noted she was the same as she always had been. Being a bit curious, but already knowing the answer, Iya asked "Momo, have you taken up a mate yet?"

Lightly blushing, Momo shook her head in a no fashion. "No Iya, I have not yet taken one." she quietly replied.

Softly sighing, Iya closed his eyes and then reopened them. Gently, he said "Momo, you should try to find a mate. I know why you don't though."

Blushing at the comment, Momo mumbled "I don't know what you talk of."

"Momo…" Iya softly, but sternly began. "I know you've waited on me all these years to come back and ask you to mate with me, but that's unfair for you. You're my friend, and I do love you, but only as a friend. I'm sorry if you thought otherwise."

Slightly disappointed, Momo lowered her head with tears slightly brimming in her eyes. She lightly sniffled, but quickly wiped them away. Sadly smiling, she replied "I've known that you didn't really wish to mate with me all these years Iya. I guess I clung to false hope that you would look at me that way."

Lightly sighing, Iya slowly said "I know… I wish I had told you to find a mate before I left."

Looking softly at Momo, he added "Besides, I'm sure there is someone out there looking for you specifically as a mate."

In a sly voice, he added "I know a few that were looking at you before I left."

Blushing furiously, Momo slightly sputtered, trying to find words to use to reply with while Iya only chuckled at her. Deciding to get his hair wet once more, Iya dunked his head under the water and soon came back up for air and shook the water out of his ears.

Grinning mischievously, Momo slyly asked "Have you taken up a mate yet, Iya?"

Heavily sighing, Iya replied "No… I don't have the time to. Not like anyone would want me anyways…"

"Not true." Momo argued with a tint of blush on her cheeks. Slyly smiling, she added "Besides, I think that little half neko demon has taken a liking to you."

"Lilly?" Iya asked, in which he received a nod from Momo. "I doubt it. We're friends."

Eyeing him suspiciously, she asked "You find her interesting and attractive enough to be a mate though, don't you?"

Blushing at Momo's comments, Iya muttered "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you Iya, and for you to bring someone with you like her is questionable. I think you are a bit sweet on the girl." Momo commented.

Turning away, Iya blushed a bit more and said "I just felt I should help her."

Taking a deep breath, Iya let out a loud sigh and seriously said "Momo, I asked you to come here to ask you something serious."

Turning serious herself, Momo nodded. Putting his question together finally, Iya asked "Momo, do you know what become of Kaia?"

Softly gasping at the name, Momo looked downwards with a touch of sadness. "She left, as you know."

"I know, but did she say anything about being angry at me or anything like that about what happened between the two of us during that… incident… before she left. It's kind of important." Iya mumbled.

Thinking for a moment, Momo finally said "When she first returned after the incident, she didn't blame you at all. But as time went on, and she saw your father, Lord Inutaisho, had given you Ketsaiga, she became angry. She grumbled that your punishment involved getting a gift from your father. Slowly, she became more and more conceded and bitter towards you. Eventually, I guess it was too much for her and she ran away. Her parents left to find her not long afterwards, but I never heard about them after that."

Sighing at Momo's words, Iya nodded and replied "Thank you."

"Why do you ask Iya?"

Looking away, Iya remained quiet, only to earn a light grunt from Momo. "Come on, tell me what's wrong Iya. It's not like you to bring up something that is painful for you to speak about for no reason. What brought this all up?"

Deeply sighing, Iya finally said "While on the way to the Western Stronghold, we ran into a female half dog demon. She surprise attacked Kagome and Lilly at a hot spring while the rest of us were at camp. Lilly managed to keep the attacker busy while Kagome got away."

"I was on my way to the hot spring due that I thought they had been gone too long. On the way, Kagome came running straight to me and told me her and Lilly had been attacked, and that Lilly was still fighting. I ran to the hot spring and found Lilly already in a bloody mess on the ground with her attacker nearby."

Eyes growing troubled, Iya mumbled "The attacker, I recognized her instantly. Her face, it was the same as I remembered it from all those years ago. I'll never be able to forget it."

Looking up at Momo, he said "It was Kaia."

"Wait, how can that be? Kaia should be dead by now, not to mention she was human, not a half dog demon." Momo replied with confusion.

"I know…" Iya lowly mumbled. "She mentioned she was taking Lilly and Kagome back to their masters, to the mages. Is it possible Kaia made a deal with them?"

Brow furrowing further, Iya softly added "Or is it even possible that she belongs to the one mage who hasn't taken a slave in over two hundred years?"

"Kaia would never side with someone who was against the Western Lands." Momo quickly said in defense.

Putting his head in his hands, Iya rubbed his eyes and then said in a low whisper "But what I did to Kaia may have changed her that much…"

"Don't even think that way Iya!" Momo snapped. "You couldn't help yourself."

"Do you truly believe that Momo? Am I really innocent?" Iya asked with sadness hanging in his voice.

Heavily sighing, Momo looked sadly at the ground and mumbled "You had no control over the situation. You didn't know, nor did she, that that 'incident' would happen."

"I know… It's just that I should have…"

"Enough!" Momo angrily snarled. "What happened has happened! There is no going back and fixing things!"

Softly sighing, Iya slightly smiled and nodded. "You're right." he replied. "All I can do is try and make sure nothing like this happens again."

"Right!" Momo cheerfully agreed. "Now then, hadn't you better get out of there and go check on your friends?"

Smiling, Iya nodded and asked "Would you please take my clothes and wash them? They need a good washing."

"Of course, but only if I get to take a peek at your body." Momo smugly replied with a sly look on her face.

Sweat dropping, Iya lightly grumbled and dropped lower into the water. Lowly, he said "Go get my clothes and wash them, please?"

Giggling, Momo stood up and responded "You're no fun. You'd think after two hundred years of clinging to hope that you'd make me your mate, you'd give me a peek at your body as a giving up present."

Blushing furiously, Iya sunk even deeper into the water while Momo cackled at him. She just walked back through the shoji door and slid it shut once through. Hearing the door to his room close, Iya heavily sighed and dunked himself under the water once more while furiously running his fingers through his hair to make sure he had no tangles or knots. Satisfied finally, he climbed out and grabbed his towel and dried off.

Entering his room with his towel around his waist, Iya moved to his closet and found a set of clothing he hadn't worn in over two hundred years. Slipping on a black kimono top and a pair of black pants, he reached for the green sash that hung nearby and tied it. Satisfied, Iya walked over to his bed and laid down, allowing his wet hair to go sprawling across it.

Sighing at the nuisance of his hair, he grabbed a hair brush off his dresser and slowly brushed it out. Finishing up at long last, he reached for his usual ribbon, which he had set on his dresser, to tie back his hair, only to stop himself.

"Hmm, for now I'll not wear it tied back." he decided.

Picking Ketsaiga up, he slid it into his obi and glanced around his room. Smiling at the flowers, he walked over and inhaled their scent deeply.

According to his father, the room he had been given was his mother's before she had died. He was told that his mother had grown the very flowers within his room. She had always had a special touch at growing things, and thus he always kept them in his room, just for something to remind him of her.

Laying down on his bed once more, Iya once more for the millionth time pondered what his mother had been like, what her scent smelled like, and what she had looked like. He had portraits of her, and heard tales of her, along with others describing her scent, but he would never experience them first hand unfortunately.

Closing his eyes, he remembered his father had waited till Iya had been ten before finally telling him about his mother. He had told him of how nice Iya's mother had been, of her love and dedication for the Western Lands and to himself. When she had become pregnant, which his father didn't explain at first how it happened and refused to till Iya was much older, his father had promised to take care of his mother, which he did.

Unfortunately for his mother, she had been in her human form the night he was born. The birth had been difficult on her, and she sadly died in childbirth. Iya was brought into a world while his mother had been taken out. Inutaisho had wanted to save her, but couldn't do that he had saved her as a child with Tenseiga. It could only save a person once, hence Tenseiga was unable to bring back Iya's mother.

Smiling, Iya closed his eyes and remembered when his father uttered her name to him with a few tears sliding down his own cheek. "_Her name, it was Asami. She was true to her name Iya, for she was truly a morning beauty. Her beauty and splendor knew no bounds. Even though she was a half demon, many found her beauty very appealing, but it was her laughter and happiness that infected everyone. I see so much of that within you. Never lose your smile my son._"

Opening his eyes, Iya felt a few tears leaking out from his own eyes. Wiping them away, he sat up and heavily sighed. "I have no time to stroll down memory lane, no matter how much I enjoy it." he mumbled.

Standing up, Iya exited his room and made his way through the Western Stronghold. His destination was one his father had taken him to a few times. There, precious memories and items were held that he knew he needed now.

Along the way, many servants welcomed the half demon lord home, which Iya warmly returned their greetings. After nearly thirty minutes, Iya made his way to the far corner of the western wing of the stronghold. Before him stood a doorway with a barrier surrounding it, seemingly protecting what laid inside.

Gently placing a hand on the door handle, the barrier reacted and shrank away, allowing Iya access. Pushing the door open, Iya entered, instantly smelling dust within the room.

Closing the door behind him, Iya walked through the room, seeing numerous pieces of jewelry, furniture, and other family heirlooms. Walking to the back, he found a closed off space where a few items he was very familiar with laid. Picking up a kimono nearby, along with a sword in a pink sheath, he left the room, allowing the barrier to reform.

"This should work." Iya mumbled to himself with the kimono and sword in his arms.

--

Leading Rin to the northern wing of the Western Stronghold after another of their training sessions, Sesshomaru walked into the wing silently with Rin quietly following behind him.

The two had been training long and hard each and every night since she had awakened after being attacked by Ichimaru. During their training, Sesshomaru had treated Rin in a way that she couldn't believe he would: without mercy, although deep down Rin knew he was holding back and would never permanently harm her. Still, the two had been training furiously, trying desperately to get Rin to a place where she could protect herself if need be.

Entering the area within the northern wing she had become rather accustomed to, Rin saw her own room nearby, along with Sesshomaru's. Sesshomaru led the pair instead to a different room, one in which she had never entered into before. On the door frame, a shimmering golden barrier held fast, but with a light touch of Sesshomaru's hand, it retracted, allowing him to open the door.

Entering the room behind her Lord, Rin glanced around, taking note of the numerous things laying about. The room for the most part was like her own, except the walls were a different color and all of her personal touches were not there.

Sesshomaru wordlessly walked to an armoire in the corner of the room and opened it. Taking a peek from behind him, Rin saw many fine silk kimonos within, many with intricate designs and patterns. After a moment of glancing in, Sesshomaru grabbed one off of a hanger and pulled it out and shut the doors to the armoire. With kimono in hand, he went to the nearby dresser and opened it. Pulling out a white shift, he closed the drawer and turned back towards the door. Obediently, she followed behind him, with him leading her out of the room.

With the closing of the door, the barrier reformed, surprising Rin due that it had nearly caught her tail, making her lightly "eep" out in shock. Ignoring her outburst, Sesshomaru moved to Rin's room and led her in.

Once inside, he closed the door and handed her the clothing. "Rin, go clean up and put this on. This Sesshomaru shall return in an hour."

Understanding now why he had taken her into the other room now, she nodded and watched Sesshomaru turn and leave the room, closing the doors behind him. Lightly sighing, Rin walked to her own armoire and pulled out a white silk robe. Frowning due that it was kid sized and she was now a grown woman, she heavily sighed and decided to use a set of towels instead. Finding her towels, she made sure they would cover her body before she finally walked over to the shoji door that hid her personal hot spring.

Walking out to the hot spring, she stripped out of her worn out red and white priestess clothing till she stood in only her shift. Looking at her body, she realized how different it truly was from her child sized body. Growing up hadn't affected her mindset, but to her, it was odd to change from a child to a woman. And then there was the change from being a human to becoming a half demon.

Lightly sighing and pushing her irritating thoughts away, she pulled the shift over her head and threw it down with her other ruined clothing. Gently, she lowered herself into the hot spring and washed her body.

Once finished cleaning up, she wrapped a towel around her hips and then one around her chest. Lightly giggling at the fact her tail was swishing against the constraining piece of fabric, she walked back into her room. Collapsing onto her bed, she began to ponder what her guardian truly thought of her now.

"_Is he disgusted with me due that I'm a half demon now? I know he doesn't like Lord Inuyasha, and I'd have to guess he doesn't like Lord Iya too much either from what I've seen. But then again, everyone claims he hates humans, but he never once said anything mean or spiteful to me while I was human. He seems to treat me rather well really, and even now that I'm a half demon, he doesn't seem to care. Nothing has changed really, other than the start of our training sessions._"

Sighing at her thoughts, Rin stood back up and picked up another towel. Using it to dry her hair, she rigorously began rubbing it down, pulling out all the water she could. Gently, she dried her wolf ears off too. With a light giggle, she realized her own tail needed dried off, so she used her towel to rub it down till it was dry as well. Finding her hair brush, she began to slowly brush out her hair, careful of her wolf ears. Finishing up, she glanced at her tail, and after a few moments, decided to brush it out as well. With gentle strokes, she brushed out her tail and softly giggled at her actions.

Finally done, she threw her towels off and picked up her new white shift. Cutting a small tail hole, she then slipped it on. It had two thin straps at the top and came up to her upper thigh, but covered everything to her satisfaction that if she was in it only, she'd be covered well enough.

Grabbing the kimono Sesshomaru had left her, she examined it for a moment. It was light blue with a yellow obi sash, and intricate pink flower petal designs etched throughout it. Finding the place where she needed to make her tail hole, she made the small cut for her tail. Slowly, she began to slide it on and found that the length of the kimono reached right above her knees. Tying the yellow obi sash, Rin glanced in the mirror to see how the kimono looked. It fit her perfectly, showing off some of her new womanly curves. Finding two yellow ribbons of the same color as her obi, Rin grabbed them and made two pony tails out of her hair, leaving a bit still in the middle and her bangs hanging freely.

Looking herself over, Rin smiled at the image of her older half demon self. Finding a pair of sandals nearby, she slid them on and realized it was nearly time for Sesshomaru to return.

As if on cue, the demon lord walked in and saw his young ward staring at herself in her full body length mirror. He found himself admiring her beauty and inwardly smiled at how beautiful she had truly become, but kept his emotionless mask on. Holding the sword Totosai had given him tightly within his right hand, Sesshomaru relaxed his grip a bit and walked forward.

Turning to him, Rin smiled and happily said "Thank you for the new kimono, Lord Sesshomaru! It fits perfectly!"

"Hn."

Noting the sword in his right hand, Rin frowned and asked "Lord Sesshomaru, why do you have a sword in your hand?"

Moving forward till he was close to Rin, he held the sword up and said "It is time you were trained to use a sword. This sword, Aiko, belongs to you."

Shocked and unsure what to say, Rin lightly reached out to take hold of the sword. Upon touching the sword, she felt it pulsate and pulled back her hand quickly.

"Do not worry Rin. Aiko will not harm you, for it was forged from the fang of this Sesshomaru. It is meant to protect you."

Somewhat shocked by Sesshomaru's words, Rin thoughtfully looked at the sword, pondering on the name and what he had said. "_The name Aiko means 'beloved child,' and he said it would protect me. Does that mean he really thinks of me as his child, and that the sword he gave me will continue to protect me like he always has?_"

Sesshomaru's normal indifferent voice cut through her thoughts, saying "Rin, you are still this Sesshomaru's ward. This Sesshomaru will not allow any harm to come to you."

Moving a clawed hand to cup her cheek, he looked at her with his golden eyes that for a moment to Rin seemed like they showed warmness, almost like an inward smile. Softly, he said "You are growing up, and this Sesshomaru is proud of you."

Gasping at his words, Rin was left speechless. With that, she wordlessly reached out and took hold of Aiko, in which Sesshomaru compliantly released. Stepping back, out of his reach, Rin drew he sword and looked the blade over. The blade was very sharp and finely crafted, seemingly created with no flaws.

Sheathing the blade, she gently placed the sword into her obi and deeply bowed to Sesshomaru. "Thank you Lord Sesshomaru."

"Come, we will train now before dinner." Sesshomaru replied and led the way out of the room, with Rin following close behind, her tail swishing with happiness.

--

"Ahhhh, this is heaven…" Kagome moaned softly with her eyes closed while soaking in hot steamy water up to her chin.

Smirking at Kagome, Sango leisurely replied "You got that right."

"Hard to believe they have hot springs right outside our rooms here." Lilly commented.

"Not really." Orihime replied while splashing some water up on her face. "Most demon lords have their castles built with comfort in mind, not only for themselves, but for their servants and guests in mind."

Lightly giggling, Lilly said "I'm glad for that. This place is great."

Hearing something, the four glanced back towards the building to see a shoji door nearby opening, with a petit girl walking out with emerald green eyes, red fox ears and a tail, with reddish brown hair that reached her butt. She wore a simple white robe and seemed to stop upon noticing them.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I bathe with you?" she asked softly with a mischievous grin.

Nodding, Kagome replied "Come on in. It's just us girls here."

Smiling, the girl walked forward, only to be stopped by Sango's fist smashing into her face, flinging the girl into the nearby wall with great impact. Water dripped off of Sango's slick body, with her tail swishing lightly.

In complete shock, Lilly leapt out of the water and in front of Sango, snarling "Sango, what was that for!?"

"She did nothing to provoke that!" Kagome added while quickly leaping out of the water. She landed beside of Lilly and stood in front of her friend with her arms spread wide and a fierce look of determination in her honey colored eyes. "Why did you do that Sango!?"

Motioning her head towards the fallen girl, Sango growled out "Take a whiff of her scent and you'll know why I did it. That's no girl."

Confused, both Kagome and Lilly glanced over their shoulders and sniffed the air in the direction of the fallen girl. Instantly, they recognized the scent and each lowly growled.

"See." Sango smugly stated while walking over to where the robes were. She quickly tossed two in Lilly and Kagome's direction, while slipping one on herself.

The two girls instantly wrapped their bodies within their robes and quickly stomped over to the fallen girl's form. Kicking the form with her foot, Sango angrily yelled "You pervert, I thought you'd know better!"

Groaning, the girl instantly became coated with smoke. From the smoke emerged Miroku, wearing the same robe the girl had. Slowly, he glanced up at Sango with a weak smile and said "I had to try, at the least."

About to strike Miroku, Sango stopped with her fist dangerously close his head. Gritting her teeth, she snarled "GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I THROW YOU THROUGH THE WALL!"

With quickness that none of the group thought Miroku had, he scrambled out of the hot spring area and back through the door he had come through, leaving the four girls alone once more. Both Kagome and Lilly lightly sighed, while Sango glowered, but all three took noticed that Orihime was unfazed by the whole experience.

"Why weren't you freaked out by him being in here Orihime?" Kagome asked with a curious look.

Shrugging, Orihime innocently smiled and said "I had nothing to hide from him. Besides, guys and girls will eventually see each other's nude bodies eventually, so why bother hiding it now?"

All three girls gaped at Orihime with shock and horror on their faces. "Orihime, have you no sense of decency!?" Sango snarled.

Shrugging it off, Orihime replied "No, it's not that. I just don't see what the problem is with showing a guy your body. I did it all the time at the bobcat dens. In fact, most of the women at the bobcat dens are nude, and so are the men."

Standing up, she stepped out of the hot spring and grabbed her nearby robe while water rolled off of her nude body. Without a word, she walked towards her room with the robe in hand. "I'm going to go lay down a while. Wake me in a while." she sweetly said while walking into her room with no clothing and her robe in hand.

Once the shoji door shut, all three girls looked at one another with shocked glances. After a few moments, the three walked back to the hot spring and cast off the robes before going back into the water. Once in, each let out a heavy sigh.

"She's an odd one…" Lilly mumbled, which received a nod from both Kagome and Sango.


	20. Chapter 20: Equipping for Battle

Chapter 20

**Hey everyone! Well, I had a decent weekend. Saturday, the only thing I really did was work on putting together a bookshelf me and my mate purchased last week. It wasn't too hard, but just irritating at times, lol. I'm kind of glad I put it together alone, otherwise I'd have no doubt been grouchy towards my mate. I love her to death, but working with her sometimes on stuff, eh, it just doesn't work out, lol. It's more me than her I'm sure, but oh well. That's just the way life is, hehe. Monday, I had a pretty good day, for we went to the movies and saw **_**Iron Man**_**. It was very nice, and I recommend it to anyone who liked the show or comics, or are just curious. The part of Tony Stark/Iron Man was played by Robert Downy, Jr., who did an excellent job at portraying the character. Like I said, if anyone is in the mood for an action movie, I'd recommend it.**

**Writing wise, things are good. I've gotten a lot accomplished on this story recently, and am moving along on it. The other story I'm working on, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, is temporarily on hold due that the coauthor is on vacation at the moment, but we'll pick back up on it soon enough. I may do a few things on it while he's gone anyways, but we'll see.**

**Btw, just in case anyone is curious, this question was presented to me a while back, asking when I finished these two stories I'm currently posting are done, am I going to quit writing, aka retire. The answer is no. I have no plans to stop writing. I have ideas for new stories, plus ideas for other things. Not to mention, I have a list of one-shots to still write, lol. So, by no means am I going to quit writing.**

**Anyways, moving on, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Yes, Miroku can transform, much like Shippou can. Don't forget, he is a red half fox demon, so he has the same powers as Shippou, although I'm sure he's capable of much more mischief, lol. True, he'll be beaten to death by Sango before reaching the mages, lol. Poor Tsunade won't be happy about that, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Micah Rapp Cullen: Yep, 2 updates in a week! I do that every other week, lol. I may bump up the posting to 2 a week always in the near future, but I'm undecided on that. I'm on the odd schedule as is just to give me some breathing room since I have 2 stories to work on. Of course, if I keep having progress like I am currently on this story, I may decided to do the 2 a week soon, but we'll see. Glad you liked this chapter. Heh, yeah, I thought having Sesshomaru admit he was proud of Rin would be a nice touch. LOL! Your poor roommate, hehe. Glad you really liked how things turned out. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this round. Thank you to both of you for your reviews. I really appreciate them. And to any who haven't reviewed, I do say that if you have any comments or questions on my story, please do feel free to post a review. I really enjoy reading what the people who read my story think of it. It's rather helpful to get feedback for how I write my stories. Again, thank you both for your reviews.**

**I think that about does it for me. Btw, I'm sure no one knows this, but something special is coming on Friday. If anyone can guess what it is, put it in a review or PM me, and if you guess write, I'll post an extra chapter this week. I know, that's enticement, and very cruel if no one can guess it. I may post anyways, lol. Knowing me, I will, hehe.**

**At any rate, if no one guesses the answer, I'll fill you all in. Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 20**

Twitching his ears, Inuyasha glanced over at the sliding open shoji door and smirked at the staggering Miroku. "I take it that it didn't work." he stated.

Collapsing onto the ground near the hot spring, Miroku grumbled lowly "I fooled almost all of them but Sango, or at least they didn't think to check me out. Sango knew it was me the moment she took in my scent."

"Idiot…" Shippou and Kohaku mumbled from nearby. Neither was in the water, but both were leisurely enjoying the heat.

Thinking for a moment, Shippou asked "Did your transformation stay together very long?"

With a light nod, Miroku replied "Yeah, I managed to keep it together, even after Sango smacked me up against the wall. I finally released it once she told the others who I was."

"You're never going to win that girl's heart with those kinds of tactics." Ichigo grumbled from the hot spring.

Looking confused, Miroku replied "But I already won her heart. She's promised to marry me."

"Then quit trying to find other girls to look at." Ichigo flatly stated.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Miroku smartly replied with a smirk.

Heavily sighing, Ichigo threw his arms up and climbed out of the hot spring. "I give up." he muttered while walking to his room with his towel around his waist.

Inwardly, Inuyasha chuckled at the agitated bobcat, knowing how he probably felt when it came to Miroku. "_Heh, I gotta admit, Miroku could always confuse and completely frustrate me all at once. Still, he's one person I know I can always count on._"

After a few minutes, Kohaku stood and went back to his room. Shippou followed suit, leaving Inuyasha and Miroku. The former monk turned half demon soon got up and slipped his robe off and got into the hot spring. Relaxing up against the wall, he closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Inuyasha, are you worried that we'll not make it in time to stop the mages?" he suddenly asked out of the blue without opening his eyes.

Letting out a small sigh, Inuyasha began to gruffly reply, but was cut off by Miroku's stern voice. "I'm serious. I want to know, do you really think we have a chance to reverse this situation."

Looking down at the water, Inuyasha quietly said "To be completely honest, I'm not sure. Unlike with Naraku, where we knew we didn't have to worry about time, so long as we collected all of the Sacred Jewel, we were fine. Now though, we have a timeline, which is limited. Everyone but Lilly only has twenty-five days left till the mages can take control."

Glancing up, Miroku saw a bit of light in the half demon's eyes while he said "Still, I believe in Iya. I've only known him for a few days, but I trust him. I sense no malice in him, and that he really does want to save everyone. It's just a question of whether or not there is enough time to save everybody."

"Yeah…" Miroku mumbled lowly.

Scowling, Inuyasha gruffly added "Feh, don't worry so much Miroku. We'll save everyone before it's time."

"I hope so Inuyasha. I hope at least we can save Sango. If anything happened to her…"

Cutting Miroku off, Inuyasha gruffly bit out "Feh, nothing will happen to her. None of us will let her become a slave to a mage. We're all in this together."

Softly smiling at Inuyasha, Miroku sighed lightly and dipped under the water and finally came back up, but held his head. "Damn, she sure does know how to hurt a man…"

--

Laying on her bed with her body covered in the white robe, Lilly softly sighed. The mattress was soft and downy, unlike the futon she had been accustomed to at her former home. Even though she was the daughter of a headman, the village wasn't very rich, hence their home had been very much like every other villagers.

"_I wonder if Momma and Poppa ever accepted the fact that I am a half demon... I doubt they did or ever will._" she dejectedly thought.

Heavily sighing, Lilly lightly sniffled and felt hot tears running down her cheeks. Sitting up, she sobbed lightly into her hands. "_I'll never belong anywhere. Iya told me himself that demons hate half demons for their human blood, and humans hate half demons for their demon blood. There is no place for me in the world anymore._"

Suddenly stopping, she looked up and realized that Iya himself, along with his half brother, Inuyasha, had lived that way their entire life, yet they seemed to lead a normal enough life. Sadly smiling while tears still ran down her cheeks, Lilly lightly chuckled.

"I'm so pitiful." she lowly murmured while wiping a few tears away. "Here I am feeling sorry for myself when Iya and Inuyasha have lived as half demons their entire lives. Both know depths of pain and sorrow that I'll never know, yet I'm wallowing in self-pity."

A soft knock at the door instantly made Lilly jump and shook her from her own world of thoughts. After another soft knock, she heard Iya ask "Lilly, are you in there?"

Wiping the tears off of her face roughly with her robe's sleeve, she frantically tried to calm herself and appear normal. "Just a moment." she called back.

Taking a deep breath and running the sleeve of her robe over her eyes once more, Lilly lightly sighed and said "Come in."

Gently opening the door, Iya stepped in and instantly the scent of salt from tears hit his sensitive nose. Looking at Lilly's face, he could tell the girl had been crying due to the tear stains on her cheeks, along with her puffy red eyes. Softly smiling, he walked over to her bed and set the kimono and sword down onto the bed. He then sat down next to her, causing her to instantly put on a fake smile.

Lightly frowning, he asked "Is something wrong?"

"_Damn, I just had to be in my pitiful mood when he showed up. Now he's going to want to know what's wrong._" she grumbled within her mind.

Keeping her fake smile up, she truthfully replied "Just thinking about home."

Taking in her scent, Iya determined she wasn't lying, but knew there was more to why she had been crying, but decided not to push. "Well, don't worry about your old home. Once we defeat Kenshin, you can go wherever you like. You could even come to live here at the Western Stronghold if you wanted."

Somewhat shocked by his words, Lilly dropped her fake smile and genuinely smiled back. "Thank you."

Noting he had set something on the bed, she asked "What did you bring in here?"

Softly smiling, Iya felt his cheeks heat up for a moment. "_What the hell is wrong with me!? I'm just giving her a sword and kimono..._"

"_Not just any sword and kimono though._" a voice in the back of his head called out, making him lightly grumble.

"Iya?" Lilly softly asked, unsure what was going through the half dog demon's mind.

Breaking free of his thoughts, he picked up the kimono and shyly said "I figured you could use some new clothes since your old ones are pretty tore up."

Realizing he was offering her some clothing, Lilly smiled and warmly said "Thank you Iya. The clothes I had since the village did get a bit worn out."

"Yeah… I think these will work better. It was a battle kimono my mother used to wear."

Softly gasping, Lilly glanced at the kimono. It had two pieces, with the first piece being a thick deep blue top with a pink obi sash and the bottom was a skirt that was nearly knee length. Embroidered into the top and bottom were designs of pink sakura flowers, with the numerous petals spread over the two. In the skirt, there was a slit cut for a tail already, and a set of slits up the side of the skirt to where a person's upper thighs would be to allow easier movement.

Looking up warmly at Iya with softness in her eyes, Lilly kindly said "Thank you Iya for bringing me this to wear."

"Think nothing of it." he remarked. Picking up the nearby sword, he gently moved it towards her and said "This is also for you to use."

Curiously glancing at the sword, Lilly gently took hold of the sword with both her hands. It had a pink sheath with a beautiful hilt that was braided in pink lace.

"It was my mother's sword. From what I understand, it's name is Kimi. My father forged it for her after taking her in." Iya explained. Softening his expression a bit more, he added "This should help stop your transformations."

Lightly gasping, tears began streaming down her face. She immediately dropped the sword and leapt forward, embracing Iya. He went somewhat stiff, a bit shocked at her reaction, but relaxed slowly upon inhaling her sweet scent. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

Inhaling her scent once more, Iya felt himself relaxing even more. "_If only we weren't in this mess Lilly..._" he grumbled deep within his mind.

Taking in Iya's scent, Lilly felt herself calming lightly from her over joy at the gifts he had given her. "_His scent, it smells of cinnamon and woods._" she mumbled deeply in her mind.

After a few more moments of embracing once another, Iya pulled back and softly smiled at her. Lilly's cheeks began to glow light red, as did Iya's. "I take it you like your gifts?"

"Of course I do!" Lilly quickly said, thinking Iya was going to take it back. "Thank you very much. With this sword, I'll feel safer, knowing I won't transform."

"You will be in danger still though." Iya evenly stated. "Even though you now have Kimi at your side, should you lose it during battle and your life is in danger, you will more than likely transform again. Don't lose Kimi in battle, understand?"

Nodding lightly, Lilly replied "I do. This sword is what keeps me from becoming a monster…"

"Not a monster." Iya interjected. "Just someone who has lost their consciousness."

Frowning, Lilly timidly asked "Have you transformed before?"

Heavily sighing, Iya looked away and mumbled "A few times… I don't want to talk about them though."

Deciding not to push, Lilly put a kind hand on his shoulder, making him return his vision to her. "I see. Well, thank you Iya, for helping me. I truly do appreciate it."

A small smile crept back onto his face with him standing up. "I'll leave and let you change. I need to visit with the others anyways."

"Alright." she softly replied. "I'll be here when you get done."

Nodding, Iya walked towards the door, but was stopped when Lilly said "I am eternally grateful for the gifts you are lending me Iya."

Looking over his shoulder with a smile, he replied "Think nothing of it Lilly. I'll see you soon."

--

Finding Inuyasha's scent, Iya followed it to his room and knocked lightly. Hearing a gruff "What do you want," Iya softly smiled and opened the door. On the far side of the room, in the floor with his back to the wall and his legs in a cross legged style and his sword resting against his shoulder, Iya saw his half brother.

"What is it Iya?" Inuyasha gruffly asked.

Softly chuckling, Iya walked over to his younger brother and sat down beside of him in a similar style. "I just came to check in on you. Find everything alright so far?"

"Feh, I don't know why we stopped here. There is no point to stopping at all if we can catch up to the mages soon." Inuyasha grunted out.

"We needed a few supplies before we move on." Iya replied. Softening his voice, he added "Plus, I thought while here, we'd get your friends some new clothing to better help protect them."

Looking at Iya with a touch of shock, Inuyasha asked "Who is getting clothing?"

"All of them. Kagome, Kohaku, Miroku, and Sango all need something to wear. I already gave Lilly her clothing, and I'm sure Rin received something from Sesshomaru."

Frowning for a moment, Inuyasha finally said "Don't give Kagome anything."

"Why, you think that I'm making advances on her by giving her a gift?" Iya slyly asked.

Glaring at Iya, Inuyasha stuffed his fists into his sleeves and lightly grunted. "She would enjoy a nice kimono that I'd pick out for her." Iya teased.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha angrily snapped. "I've already picked her up some clothing, and as soon as Totosai gets here, she'll receive it!"

Somewhat shocked that his brother had made the declaration, Iya softly smiled and said "Very well Inuyasha, I won't take her with me to get some clothing."

Standing up, Iya began to leave, but stopped in the middle of the room. "Are you enjoying your stay here, at your family home?"

"What!?" Inuyasha questioned.

Softly smiling, Iya turned back to look at his brother and replied "Father and your mother, Lady Izayoi, were to live here at the Western Stronghold once you were born. Unfortunately, father died, and your mother ran off before I could go and bring her here."

Kindly, he added "This place is your birth right. You have as much a right to live here as Sesshomaru and myself, so if you wish to stay once we finish up with the mages, feel free to stay. I'm sure your friends could as well."

"Keh, as if we want to live in the lap of luxury. They might, but me, I'd rather be out in the forest."

"I see. It figures, you've had a life of it and you'd rather not be confined." Iya commented.

"Damn straight!" Inuyasha boasted.

Lightly chuckling, Iya turned towards the door and said "The offer will always be there if you change your mind. At any rate, I'm going to go get the other three and get them prepared. I'll be back later."

"Whatever." Inuyasha grumbled while Iya walked out the door, leaving the half demon to his thoughts again.

--

Walking down the hall to Miroku's room, Iya softly knocked and received a "Come in" reply. Entering the room, Iya saw the monk turned half demon sitting in the floor with his eyes closed, apparently in meditation.

Opening his eyes to reveal his emerald orbs, Miroku asked "How may I help you Iya?"

"I came to take you with me to pick up some clothing. I'm sure it's strange to be in your current set with you being a half demon." Iya commented.

Thinking it over for a moment, Miroku nodded and stood up. "Yeah, it's really strange. Plus, with this long hair, it's just odd."

"You'll get used to it eventually, probably."

Shrugging, Miroku stood and mumbled "I suppose. Well, shall we go?"

Getting a nod in reply, Miroku grabbed his nearby staff. Noting this, Iya turned and led the two out the door and down the hall a little ways before stopping before another room.

Smelling sweat, Iya glanced back at the former monk and frowned. "Why are you nervous? It's just Sango?"

"Uh, yeah, it's just Sango…" Miroku muttered.

Shrugging, Iya knocked on the door. Not getting a response, Iya knocked once more and heard "Just a moment."

A moment later, the door opened, revealing Sango in a white robe and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you the first time. I was sleeping."

"It's alright Sango. No need for apologies." Iya remarked.

Smiling at him, she nodded and glanced over his shoulder, seeing Miroku. Glaring at him, which forced Miroku to shrink away, she growled out "Why is he with you!?"

Glancing over his shoulder at Miroku, Iya saw that he was a bit skittish of her at the moment, making him lightly sigh. Turning back to her, he replied "I came to get the two of you and Kohaku to get you some new clothing. I figure the clothing you wore as humans would make every one of you look suspicious if we go into a village."

Thinking for a moment, Sango calmed and nodded. "You're right. Seeing a set of half demons wearing monk's clothing and demon exterminator's clothing could be suspicious looking."

"Yes, it would be. That's why I want the three of you to come with me." Iya remarked.

"Alright, let me just get something before we go." Sango replied and rushed back into her room. Finding Hiraikotsu nearby, she shouldered it and went back to the hallway where Iya and Miroku waited.

Seeing she was ready, Iya led the two down the hallway a little ways before stopping at another room. Knocking on the door, he softly said "Kohaku."

The door instantly opened with Kohaku standing there. Seeing his sister and her intended behind Iya, Kohaku asked "Yes?"

"I've come to collect you so we can get you some more suitable clothing. I'm sure you're tired of burning your current set." Iya wistfully said.

Turning slightly pink, Kohaku nodded and walked over to his bed. Grabbing his chain scythe, he said "I'm ready."

"Follow me." Iya simply commented.

Leading the way down the hallway, Iya entered into a storage room where the group saw numerous things laying around. Many beautiful kimonos hung about the room, with a few weapons hanging as well. Facing the group, Iya said "Sango and Miroku, in here you can find a kimono to fit your new forms."

"What about me?" Kohaku piped up.

Smiling, Iya replied "I have a special set of clothes to give you."

Walking over to where a box sat, Iya opened it and pulled out a set of maroon clothing that seemed cut in a pattern of shorts with a short sleeved kimono top.

Looking at the clothing for a moment, Kohaku finally asked "What is it?"

"This is an outfit made from fire rat cloth." Iya informed.

"Wait, I thought the fire rat was red?" Sango asked with a frown.

"True, adult fire rats, while in their prime, do have red coats. An example is Inuyasha's kimono, seeing how his is a bright and healthy shade of red. Younger fire rats have light red coats, or pretty much pink. Older ones though, turn maroon, much like this set of clothing." Iya explained.

Taking the maroon clothing from Iya, Kohaku inspected it thoroughly. Breaking the young man's concentration, Iya said "I killed that fire rat when I was younger. Father and I found it on a hunting trip. It was dying, so father asked me to finish it. I took the pelt and kept it in storage since I never really needed it. I had it made into a kimono long ago, but saw a need to use it myself."

"Oh, I see." Kohaku replied. Bowing slightly, he added "Thank you Iya. I appreciate this."

"Don't worry about it Kohaku. I'm glad it can help you out now." Iya warmly said. Pointing a clawed finger at a small door, Iya said "You can go try that on in that dressing room if you like."

"Thank you, I shall." Kohaku responded. With that said, he turned and walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

Returning his attention back to Sango and Miroku, Iya asked "See anything that catches your eye?"

"Not really." Miroku mumbled.

Sango was about to reply when suddenly she stopped what she was doing. Walking over to a nearby rack of kimonos, she cocked her head to the side. Sniffing lightly, she grabbed a kimono off of the rack and examined it for a moment. The kimono itself was made of fine white silk with long flowing sleeves, with the bottom looking like it would come to up to her mid to lower thigh. A blue piece of fabric for a belt was tied at the middle, held shut by a golden string. The edges of the kimono each had a blue hem, accenting it a bit. Finally, a set of brown hair ribbons was within the clothing.

Looking towards Iya, she shyly asked "Is it alright if I use this?"

"Of course it is Sango." Iya responded with a small smile. "All of these clothes are available for you all to wear. If you like, you can try it on in that dressing room there."

Nodding in appreciation, Sango walked towards the room, but stopped when she was about to enter it. With a death glare, she said in a low warning tone "Miroku, if I catch you peeking, don't expect any mercy."

Miroku could only gulp and nod slowly at the threat while watching Sango enter into the room with a smirk of satisfaction. Iya couldn't help but chuckle at the former monk turned half demon's predicament.

Sighing, the former monk continued to search through the clothing, seemingly looking for something. After a minute, he finally let out a ragged sigh. Glancing up, he was about to admit defeat when something caught his eye. Moving to a set of clothing, he examined it more closely. Looking it over, he found the outfit was a light blue tunic with a dark blue cloak that draped over the right shoulder mostly with two blue shoulder pads that had gold embroidery in it, and a pair of brownish pants that came up to right above his knees. Sitting with the clothing was a light blue mixed with purple staff that had a crescent moon on the end of it.

Staring at the set of clothing for a long moment, Miroku finally picked it up off the rack, along with the staff. Pointing to a nearby door, he asked "Is that a dressing room?"

Getting a nod in response from Iya, Miroku hurried into it and shut the door quickly. Once he had vanished, the door Kohaku had been in opened, revealing the young half fire demon wearing his new maroon clothing. His chain scythe was tucked away in his obi on his backside, somewhat hiding it.

"How does it feel Kohaku?" Iya asked kindly.

Thinking for a moment, Kohaku replied "It fits rather well. The cloth seems to be molding to my body."

"It's supposed to do that. That's so it's easier for you to move while in battle. Fire rat clothing was sought after for years due to that, plus it's resistant to fire and is rather good at stopping swords or other weapons from piercing. It doesn't always stop them, but weaker opponents should be unable to pierce it." Iya explained.

"That's good to know." Kohaku appreciatively replied.

Iya was about to reply when Sango stepped out of her dressing room, making all eyes fall on her. The white silk kimono melded to her body rather well, displaying her fine curves and powerful body. The length of the kimono itself reached her mid-thigh, which revealed her sleek sexy legs. Her tail lightly swished from behind her, reminding all that she had one. She had tied her hair back into two ponytails, with the brown ribbons holding it up. Her silver and brown mixed hair accented the kimono more, seemingly giving a very alluring look.

Staring at his sister with shocked eyes, Kohaku tried to find the words to describe what he felt at the sight of her. "Sister… you look, look so…"

"Beautiful." Iya said, finishing Kohaku's sentence entirely.

Blushing a bit from Iya's comment, Sango asked "You really think so?"

"Yes, you do. How does it feel though? Do you think it'll work in battle?" Iya questioned.

Nodding in response, Sango replied "I think it will. From what I can tell, I can move pretty freely. It doesn't restrict me in the least. I really like it."

"Then it is yours to wear." Iya stated.

Smiling warmly, Sango appreciatively replied "Thank you Iya. Where did Miroku go?"

A door opened suddenly from where Miroku had vanished to, with him stepping out and saying "I'm right here dearest San…"

Seeing her beautiful form in her new kimono, Miroku stopped in mid-sentence and took in way the clothing hung on her body, how each curve seemed to be a bit more accented than before. His eyes glowed with pure surprise and shock, but also an excitement that made Sango seem uneasy, yet feel more alive than ever.

"_I see those foxes have taken notice of one another._" Iya commented in his mind.

Taking in Miroku's appearance, Sango lightly gasped in shock. The clothing appeared to be something that royalty would wear, but fit him rather well. The staff he held in his left hand made her curious, but she didn't ask.

"You look so… beautiful Sango. I must say, that is the right kimono for you." Miroku curtly said.

Lightly blushing from his comment, she replied "And you look rather handsome. Those clothes seem to fit you just right."

Mentally chuckling at the two's reaction, Iya cleared his throat and said "Well then, now that the three of you have your clothing, we should do some training. Kohaku, I'll help continue bringing out your fire powers while Sango and Miroku, I want you two to spar."

Glancing back and forth between Iya and Sango nervously, Miroku asked "Are you sure you want me and Sango to spar?"

Smirking while cracking her knuckles, Sango swished her tail a little bit and smugly said "It'd be a pleasure to spar with you Miroku."

"Yes, I'm sure I want the two of you to spar Miroku." Iya remarked. "It'll give you both a chance to try out your skills on one another. Just don't get too carried away. And besides, I'm going to have Lilly training to use her sword."

Heavily sighing, Miroku mumbled "I'm doomed…"

Chuckling, Iya shook his head and started towards the door. Looking back, he said "Let's go."

The three followed behind the black haired half demon silently. They soon arrived in front of Lilly's room, where Iya quickly knocked on her door. She immediately answered it, making him somewhat gasp at her.

Lilly had already changed and was wearing his mother's kimono with Kimi at her side. The kimono fit her perfectly, seemingly showing off her many curves in all the right places. Iya was completely speechless and felt his breath hitch in his throat.

"_What's wrong with me!? It's just Lilly!_" he grumbled within his mind.

Finally pulling himself together, Iya smiled and complimented her. "You look very nice Lilly."

Blushing lightly at the comment, she quietly replied "Thank you."

Remembering the reason he had come to her room, Iya regained his composure and said "It's time for some training. We'll get a few hours in before dinner. Want to join us?"

"Sure." she quickly replied.

Together, the five made their way towards the exit of the hallway. Before leaving, Kohaku exclaimed "Oops, we forgot about Shippou! He's still asleep in my room!"

Softly smiling, Iya replied "Go ahead and fetch him. He may want to train with us."

"I'd better fetch Kirara too then." Sango added while rushing off to her room with Kohaku following behind her.

A few minutes later, the pair returned with both the drowsy kitsune and neko demon. Nodding in response, Iya led the way through the stronghold towards the training grounds.

--

Sitting up against the wall still, Inuyasha had his eyes shut with his arms crossed, with his hands stuffed in his sleeves and Tetsusaiga sitting against his shoulder. Lightly sighing, he pondered what he was to do with his life.

"_I no longer want to be a full demon. If I became one, I'd lose Kagome, and that's something I'm not prepared to do. She means too much to me._"

Letting out another sigh, another thought popped into his mind that had been heavily weighing on it recently. "_I wonder if we could use the Sacred Jewel to save all of the others that were affected by the mages... If we did that, then there would be no need to kill the mages off. Still, the mages could just attack someone else I suppose. And besides, if we used the Jewel to make that wish, it would be tainted, meaning the damn thing wouldn't vanish._"

Without warning, a bolt of lightning flashed outside of his room, waking Inuyasha from his thoughts. Standing up quickly and placing Tetsusaiga within his obi, he went to the window and opened it. Standing right outside of it was Totosai on top of his three eyed cow.

"Ah, Inuyasha, there you are." the old man said. "I've been pondering where you were. Wasn't sure if I'd catch up with you or not today."

In a gruff voice, Inuyasha asked "What do you want Totosai?"

"Ungrateful pup, that's all you have to say after I toiled for three days straight on the sword you asked me to make you!" Totosai angrily spat.

Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha calmed himself and calmly asked "Did you finish the sword Totosai?"

"I don't know if I should give it to you." Totosai stubbornly replied.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha steeled his anger and calmed himself. In as humble a voice as he could make, he said "Please Totosai, I need that sword. It's not for me, but for Kagome."

Enjoying seeing Inuyasha humble himself, Totosai asked "Why should I give it to her? If you fail to save her, she'll just use it to kill people."

Clenching his fists tightly, Inuyasha hid his eyes below his bangs and said "I won't let that happen. I swore to protect her, and I will, no matter what."

Hearing the seriousness in Inuyasha's voice, Totosai, jumped off the back of his three eyed cow and landed within the room. Pulling a small pack off of his back, he set it down onto the ground and said "I believe you pup. Here are the things you asked for."

Regaining his composure, Inuyasha walked over and opened the pack. Inside, he found a pink kimono, which looked much like his own, and a sword with a purple cloth hilt and black sheath. Drawing the sword, he examined it, but frowned.

"Old man, how does this sword work?" Inuyasha asked semi-gruffly.

"It's up to Kagome to figure out how to use Hikari. I designed it to channel her miko and demonic powers, meaning she should be able to use either in combination or alone. She alone has what it takes to use the sword correctly." Totosai explained.

Sliding the sword back into it's sheath, Inuyasha nodded in understanding. Picking up both pieces of the kimono, he softly smiled. Turning back to Totosai, he warmly said "Thank you Totosai."

"No problem pup. Just remember, only Kagome can figure out Hikari's powers. As long as she has that sword, it will suppress her demonic aura, but it's up to her to learn how to use it."

"I understand." Inuyasha replied. "I don't really have anything to pay you with for the work you did…"

Chuckling, the old man hopped back out of the window onto the three eyed cow. "You owe me nothing pup. Just make sure to keep both of yourselves alive."

With that said, the three eyed cow let out a moo and took to the air, leaving Inuyasha to stare at the vanishing image of Totosai and the cow.

Softly smiling, he lowly said "Thank you Totosai, for everything."


	21. Chapter 21: Unwanted Reaction

**Hello everyone! Well, this week has flown by. Not much new going on in my life, other than I went to the doctor yesterday. She prescribed me some allergy medicine, so hopefully I'll be doing better with them. We'll see. Other than that, nothing else is new.**

**Heh, I know I said today I was going to post an extra chapter, which I am, but I'm curious if anyone knew why? I figure no one knows, so I'll just come out and say it, lol. Today is my birthday, so I'm presenting you all with a gift of an extra chapter. I hope you all like it.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Micah Rapp Cullen: Glad you liked the heartwarming chapter, and the curvaceous women, lol. Heh, I had fun writing up the bits between the couples, or the half demons I should say. Yep, Inuyasha will be giving Kagome her sword and kimono soon, which should be fun, hehe. Hopefully everyone makes it out alive. I suppose it would be cool if Kagome used the Jewel to make her wish, but really, she's already a half demon for life as is, unless the group finds the reversal spell or the mages reverse it. She could use the Jewel to wish the mages dead, but that would be a very selfish wish, thus tainting the Jewel and not making it vanish, thus creating new problems, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! No, not flames! Awww!! Lol, I know, it was mean to leave things like that. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you both for them. I enjoyed reading them. And to anyone who hasn't reviewed, but has questions or comments, I encourage you to review or PM me. I'm more than happy to answer any questions or comments, so long as they don't give away the plot. So, feel free to review.**

**That's about it for me. Before I go though, I suppose I should dispense some warnings about things coming up. This chapter isn't really isn't lemony, but there are a few things in it that could be like low lemon content. Also, the next chapter will have a lemon, but I will surround the part in warnings, just so everyone knows, that way you can just scroll down the page till you're ready to read on. I just felt I should warn you all about it. I normally haven't done lemons, and although this is rated T, I just felt I should warn people. Don't hate me for the lemons, but it's something I thought I'd try my hand at. Lol, too much free time and no mate around, lol. At any rate, just a small warning so everyone knows.**

**And without any further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 21**

Curled up and fast asleep on her bed, Kagome was a world away in her dreams and didn't hear the soft rapping on her door. After getting no response, Inuyasha entered the room with the pack Totosai had handed off to him. Finding Kagome fast asleep, he softly smiled and set the pack down in the middle of the room.

Gently sitting down onto the bed so not to disturb Kagome, Inuyasha stared down at the young woman before him and warmly smiled.

"_Hard to believe that I thought she was Kikyo five years ago when she first woke me up. I thought it was Kikyo coming back to taunt me, but instead it was Kagome. She freed me, knowing the possible consequences, but regardless, she let me go. It's so hard to figure out why she ever trusted me now that I look back._"

Running a clawed hand through a few strands of her silky black tresses, he lightly smiled once more. "_She had every reason to hate me and leave forever, yet she always came back to me. Even when I snuck off to see Kikyo, she took me back. If I had only known how badly it had hurt her, I would never have left. What I fool I was back then._"

"_I never thought I could truly fall in love with someone after Kikyo. Maybe I was never really in love with Kikyo, but more or less lonely and needed some companionship. She offered me that at the least. But with Kagome, it's different. It's like if she left me, my whole world would come crashing down around me. Little by little, she's wiggled her way into my life, and changed me for the better in so many ways. I can't believe how much I've come to depend on her._"

"_Feh, I suppose those who have loved are right. Love makes you weaker, but that much stronger too._" he softly mused.

Moving a clawed finger over her neck, he enjoyed the thought of making her his mate one day, maybe in the not so distant future, but the doubts he always had still troubled him over it. "_She could reject me. I mean, who would want to be the mate of a weak half demon who can barely fend for himself?_"

Lightly sighing, a voice in the back of his mind replied "_But she declared that she loved you more than once._"

Once more sighing, Inuyasha didn't notice Kagome's ear twitching lightly. Slowly, she awoke, but didn't move so to let him know that she was. She soon noticed that he was running his clawed hand through her hair and enjoyed the feeling of his claws gently rubbing the top of her head. Soon enough, she noticed he moved his hand up to her one ear and lightly traced the outside of it. A light shiver went down her back from the pleasurable sensation she felt.

"_I never knew it felt this good when I did this to Inuyasha's ears._" she lowly said in her mind.

Finally unable to hide her unconscious state anymore, she let out a soft moan, alerting Inuyasha that she was awake now. He quickly stopped what he was doing.

"Kagome, I didn't know you were awake…" he nervously said.

Staring up at him with lightly glazed over honey colored eyes, she grabbed his hand and moved it back to her ear. "Don't stop…" she mumbled.

A bit shocked by her words, Inuyasha complied and began to once again trace the outside of the furry appendage. Again, Kagome lightly moaned from the pleasure she felt and relaxed more into his touch.

Smirking a bit at how Kagome reacted to his touch, Inuyasha began to use his other hand to help stroke both of the triangle shaped appendage. Her moan doubled from before while she laid her head down onto his lap.

After nearly ten minutes of rubbing her ears, he stopped, earning him a groan from Kagome. Lightly chuckling at her reaction, he smartly said "Can't have you laying here getting petted all day, now can I?"

Grunting with irritation, Kagome sat up and slyly said "You'll pay for that."

Shrugging it off, Inuyasha stood and went over to where he left the pack he had brought in. Retrieving it, he heaved it over to where Kagome sat on the bed and set it down in front of her.

Looking at the pack with curious eyes, Kagome slowly asked "What is this Inuyasha?"

"It's for you." he lightly remarked.

Unsure what he had brought her, she slowly untied the cord that held the strange cloth over it and pulled the cloth off, revealing a pink kimono inside with a sword sitting on top of it. The sword had a purple colored cloth hilt with a black sheath that had a single purple band on it.

Kagome softly gasped at the sword and kimono and looked at Inuyasha with shock, who was smugly smiling. "These are for you Kagome." he finally said.

In a bit of shock, she threw herself forward and latched onto Inuyasha with a warm embrace. Tears slid down her cheek, making Inuyasha fidget a bit.

"Hey now, don't cry! I'm sorry if they're not…" he began, but was hushed when Kagome pulled back and put a single finger over his lips.

"No, I'm not sad, I'm so happy. Thank you for these two gifts!" she exclaimed.

Relieved, Inuyasha settled while Kagome picked up the sword first. She pulled it free from it's sheath and looked to him for an explanation. "That sword is named Hikari, which means Light. I had Totosai make it especially for you to help you use your miko and demon powers."

Kagome's eyes instantly went misty upon hearing this. "Thank you so very much Inuyasha!" she exclaimed while throwing herself into another embrace with him.

Instantly, Inuyasha's cheeks heated from the contact, but he managed to maintain his calmness. Finally separating, Kagome examined Hikari once more and finally sheathed it. Setting it aside, she picked up the pink kimono and lightly frowned.

"This looks like the robe of the fire rat that you wear, except pink. And it feels about the same. What is it made of?" she questioned.

Inuyasha's cheeks lightly heated up from her question, making him turn his head away slightly. "They're from a fire rat that I killed a long time ago."

Raising an eyebrow at Inuyasha, Kagome was about to ask more, but Inuyasha said "When I was only a hundred years old, I was out hunting in Fire Region. While hunting, I came upon a large pink rat. It tried to attack me, but I killed it. It's fur was hard and tough like my robe of the fire rat, so I figured that it must be a fire rat. Still, this fire rat was pink, not red. I skinned it and took the pelt to Totosai to see if he could tell me what to do with it. He informed me that the fire rat was young, and that it's fur would have turned red when it was older, but it would remain pink forever now that it was dead. So, I had him make it into a kimono like mine and then store it for me. When we visited a few days ago, I asked him to bring it with him when he brought Hikari."

Smiling kindly, Kagome raised a clawed hand and gently rubbed Inuyasha's cheek, making both instantly blush. "Thank you for this Inuyasha, for all of it."

Grasping her hand with his, Inuyasha replied "Think nothing of it Kagome. I will do everything within my power to protect you from these mages. You're going to make it, so don't lose hope."

"Thank you." she quietly responded. "I guess I should try on my new kimono."

"I guess so."

Standing up, Kagome picked up the two pieces of clothing and shyly asked "Inuyasha, do you mind going out to the hot spring while I change?"

Without hesitation, he stood up and went through the shoji doors. Alone at last, Kagome slipped her white shirt over her head and slid her green mini-skirt off into the floor, forming a pool of green and white. Standing in only her underwear, Kagome grabbed the pants to her outfit and cut a small slit in them for her tail. Once done with it, she slid the pants on easily. Satisfied with where it reached up to, she tied them shut and slipped her bottom white kimono top on. Finishing up with it, she slid her outer kimono top on over top of it. Tucking in the extra that was left over, she tied her obi sash around her body, effectively sealing shut the top half and holding the bottom and top together. Finally, taking hold of Hikari, she slid it into her obi sash.

Satisfied that she was done, she walked over to the large mirror within the room, and gasped in shock at her new outfit. The clothing itself had seemed to make itself fit her form much better, displaying some of her body's curves. Lightly giggling to herself, she thought of herself as a female Inuyasha in a way.

Deciding she was done, she softly called out "Inuyasha, I'm done. You can come back in."

The shoji door immediately opened with Inuyasha padding in and closing the door behind him. His footsteps instantly stopped upon him glancing at Kagome. His breath caught within his throat, with him staring at her with his mouth agape.

"_She's so beautiful..._"

Turning and noticing Inuyasha's stare, Kagome lightly blushed under his examination of her. After a moment, he finally collected himself and said "You look rather nice."

"Thank you." she quietly replied. "So, what now?"

Thinking for a moment, he finally said "Let's go train a bit."

"Ok." she said with a smile and walked forward, grabbing his hand with her own. Hand in hand, the pair left her room and walked down the hall, following the scent of Iya and the others to the outside.

--

"Alright Kohaku, let's try again. Close your eyes and calmly try to summon up fire into your hand." Iya instructed.

Nodding, Kohaku took a deep breath and held his right hand out. Slowly, fire burst to life within his hand.

"Ease up on your flames." Iya commented.

Letting out a bit of a sigh, Kohaku concentrated a bit harder. After a moment, the flame shrank in size to where it fit properly in his palm.

Smiling at his Kohaku's control, Iya remembered his own difficulty in learning to control his ice powers. His father had never had them, but his mother apparently had. His father had originally had an elder dog demon teach Iya to control them, but eventually, when his father taught him how to dive deeper into his demonic powers, he taught Iya himself on how to summon up more of his ice powers. He had nearly froze his father a few times with his powers, much like how Kohaku had nearly set him on fire. If not for the fact his kimono was fire resistant, he probably would have lost his entire kimono.

"Very good Kohaku." Iya complimented. The young man had been holding the flames within his palm for a few minutes, meaning he had learned to somewhat control them.

Seeing the young man had not stopped using his powers, Iya said "You can stop now."

Instantly, Kohaku extinguished the flames and opened his eyes with a smile on his face. "Did I do ok?"

"You did very well Kohaku. Learning to use elemental powers is very difficult, but you've got a pretty good grasp on it so far. It just takes time. Keep this up and you should have control over them enough soon to use them in battle." Iya commented.

Smiling a bit, Kohaku gratefully said "Thank you. Shall we continue?"

"Yes, let's keep going." Iya replied.

--

Panting lightly, Sango stared Miroku down. They weren't far from Iya and Kohaku, and from Lilly who was practicing with her sword, but far enough to make sure Kohaku didn't accidentally blast them with fire like he had nearly done the first night of his training. Plus, the two were sparring and didn't want to fight their way into the others sessions.

Staring at Sango, Miroku inwardly groaned. She was faster than himself, and a much better hand to hand fighter than he was. Defending against her was harder and harder, but he was managing to hold his own at the least. He had noted that all the while they had been fighting, she seemed to be panting, but he guessed it was to help regulate her breathing or something.

Both fighters had some scratches on their bodies, but neither was seriously hurt. Each had very little blood drawn from the marks, and both were cautious when they had struck one another with their claws, making sure not to do serious damage to the other.

"What's the matter Miroku? Afraid to attack me?" she mocked, breaking Miroku's gaze at her.

Smiling, Miroku shook his head and said "I figured I'd let you come and get me."

Smirking at this, Sango rushed forward with blinding speed. "Here I come then!" she shouted.

Miroku barely had enough time to adjust his stance for her attack. She was about to strike him with a stretched out clawed hand when suddenly she rolled to his right side. With no time to redirect, he was tackled to the ground by her. On the ground, she was straddling him and pinned his arms down with her hands, effectively keeping him from moving or throwing her off.

Noting she was panting a bit harder, he felt the heat coming off of her body and saw sweat rolling down her face. He was about to ask if she needed a break when he suddenly felt Sango grinding her pelvis against his own.

"_What the hell!? She always lectures me on such lecherous acts!_" he growled in his mind.

"Uh, Sango…" he mumbled while looking up into her eyes. Her golden eyes were a bit glazed over and seemed to have a single thought hidden behind them.

Feeling his body starting to respond to what Sango was doing, Miroku groaned inwardly and tried to pull his arms free. He realized quickly that Sango had a firm grasp on them and wasn't letting go. She flicked her long silver tail once and continued to grind into him, even closing her eyes and letting out a pleasurable moan from the enjoyable feelings coming to her.

"Sango, wake up!" Miroku called to her, but didn't seem to get through to her. He continued to struggle even more, but she held him to the ground, not allowing him to move her at all.

--

Sniffing the air, Iya picked up a faint scent that he recognized. It was one he was quite familiar with, even though he hated the scent. Realizing the scent was coming from the area where Sango and Miroku had been sparring, he took off in the direction, leaving a bewildered Kohaku behind.

Rushing to where the scent was leading him, he found Sango straddling a confused Miroku. She had her hands pinning his arms down and was gyrating her hips on top of him, obviously getting a reaction from him since he was gritting his teeth and trying to keep from enjoying the sensations. Noting Iya had showed up, Miroku mouthed the words for help.

Sighing lightly, Iya softly said "Sango…"

Her ears slightly swiveled towards him, as if seemingly hearing him, but she paid no heed to him. Instead, she continued to grind away at Miroku with her hips.

"Sango..." Iya said a bit louder with a touch more sternness in his voice. Again, her ears swiveled towards him, but she ignored him once more.

Lightly growling with a touch of irritation that she was ignoring him, Iya gruffly said "Sango, quit grinding on Miroku and pay attention to me!"

Eyes flashing open, Sango turned her head and glanced up at Iya before realizing what she was doing. She instantly stopped moving her hips and quickly leapt off of Miroku. Landing a few feet away, her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment.

Looking at Miroku, she turned even brighter red when she noticed she had managed to arouse him. Her first thought was to run and find some place dark to hide, but she stood there instead like a timid rabbit afraid of it's shadow.

Softly sighing, Iya mumbled only low enough so that Miroku could hear him "Miroku, could you please leave us?"

Miroku's eyes darted from Iya to Sango for a few moments before he heavily sighed and stood up. Wordlessly, he walked off towards the direction of his room, leaving only Iya and Sango behind.

Tears instantly began to spring from Sango's eyes upon seeing Miroku's back to her. She darted quickly out of the training grounds and leapt to the roof of the stronghold. She soon found the outside of the fortress and began running away.

"_I feel so sorry for her to learn this way, but I have to tell her what's wrong with her. I better take Lilly with me just in case Sango can't control herself still. She's not stronger than me, but I'd rather not have to subdue her with force._" Iya mentally grumbled.

Finding Lilly quickly, he asked her to follow him. She agreed without any questions. Before leaving, Iya instructed Kohaku to continue practicing with his fire for another thirty or so minutes before going inside. Getting his agreement, Iya and Lilly took their leave and calmly went to the front of the Stronghold.

Sniffing the air, Iya began running in the direction of Sango with Lilly following him closely. He could smell the scent of tears mingled in with her musky new scent, clueing him in on her emotions over what had happened.

"_Poor Sango, she must have had no control over herself when this happened. She was a prisoner of her own demonic nature. I can sympathize with that, seeing how my own nature has done awful things…_"

Running along, he sniffed the air and found that she wasn't much further away. Putting on a burst of speed, Iya moved faster in Sango's direction. The scent of salt continued to assault his senses, making him realize she was extremely upset with her actions.

"Iya, what happened with Sango to make her this upset?" Lilly asked, breaking Iya's concentration on the trail ahead. Timidly, she added "And what is this scent I'm also picking up from her? It's different from anything I've smelled before."

Debating on telling Lilly anything, Iya slowed his pace down and finally stopped. Lilly came to a stop next to him with her hair swirling around her, making her symbolically look like grass blowing in the wind. Looking at her, he sadly smiled.

Choosing his words carefully, he said "Sango is upset over something that I didn't think would happen to her. It's something to do with her demonic nature and it's not really her fault. It's just the odd chance that she'd have it happen to her."

Realizing Lilly was possibly in the same boat, he mumbled "It could happen to any half demons that are of a certain species."

"Oh…" Lilly murmured. Putting on a smile, she cheerfully said "Well, we should keep going then. We don't want her to run away, now do we?"

Smiling appreciatively, Iya nodded and the two began running once again. It only took them a few more minutes to reach Sango, who was sitting by the river back with tears flowing down her face. She was tossing stones into the water and watching them skip across. Her ears swiveled towards the two upon them walking near her. She swished her tail once before sadly looking up at the two with tears still falling.

Seeing the embarrassment and sadness in Sango's eyes, Lilly instantly went to the ground next to Sango and embraced her warmly. Sango appreciatively accepted this and sobbed softly into Lilly's shoulder while Lilly whispered soft words to her, saying it would be alright. Deciding to wait for the two to finish, Iya stood back and patiently awaited Sango to calm down.

After nearly thirty minutes of Lilly holding her, Sango finally cried herself out. Weakly, she mumbled "Thank you."

Warmly smiling, Lilly replied "It's alright. I know you'd do the same for me."

"Yeah…" Sango mumbled. "I'm so ashamed of myself right now. I just… I just don't know what happened to me."

"Sango…" Iya softly said, making her turn her attention to him. "Can you tell me what happened before I found you two?"

Her face flushed while she sighed, but she slowly began describing the events. "Me and Miroku were sparing like you asked us to. All during the session, I felt a bit hot and was panting, but I shrugged it off. Anyways, eventually, I charged at Miroku. I faked him out and rolled to his right, then tackled him to the ground before he could react. After that… well, you saw what was happening."

"I couldn't control myself…" she miserably muttered with tears welling up in her eyes once more. "I lost complete and utter control of myself after I tackled him. It was like watching someone else take control of me and have to watch what they were doing."

Feeling sympathy for Sango's state, Iya wanted to take her in his arms and whisper to her like Lilly had that it was alright, but he knew better. "_If I get too close, the same thing will happen to me. She may have enough control to fight it off, but I'm not willing to take that chance, not with her beginning._"

Waking from his thoughts, Iya sadly smiled at Sango. "Sango, I want to ask you something."

Sniffling a bit, she nodded, showing her cooperation. Choosing his words carefully, Iya asked "Your clan, they were demon exterminators, correct?"

Receiving a nod from Sango, Iya decided to continue on and asked "Did they teach you about demon heats?"

Thinking for a moment, Sango nodded and said "Yes, I was taught about them, that male demons went into what is known as demon heats. It's a period of time in which a demon is consumed with one burning desire: to procreate. It consumes all of their thoughts and actions. It occurs differently for each species of demon, but all male ones suffer through them. What does this have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with the situation." Iya remarked. He inwardly chuckled at Lilly's cheeks heating up, but stayed on subject. "Some species of demons experience heats more frequently than others. Examples are neko and fox demons. Each have a heat almost every month, but there is more to it than that. Not only do male neko and fox demons have heats, female ones do as well."

Crossing her arms, Lilly looked to Iya with a look that said so what. Deciding to make his point, he added "It's a bit of a known fact for everyone that half demons aren't quite as strong as real demons, but they do share similar things. One thing that hasn't been known to be shared is demon heats, except in rare cases of some."

Realization hit both Sango and Lilly's face at about the same when each figured out what Iya was getting to. "You mean… I might be having a demon heat!?" Sango asked in horror.

"Unfortunately, it is possible Sango." Iya replied. "I can't say that I've known very many half demons to go into demon heat, but I've met a few. From what I've seen from demons and half demons, your conditions are similar. When I found you, your eyes were cloudy, you said you were feverishly hot and were panting. Not to mention, from what I saw, I'd say your mind was stuck on one thing: desire. From that, I've deduced that you're going into a demon heat."

Panicking a bit, Sango stood up and began pacing, asking "What do I do!? Of all the times for this to happen to me!"

"Calm down Sango." Iya sternly commanded, making her stop pacing and take a deep breath. Softening his voice, he added "Panicking won't help you. Your heat is just beginning, meaning you have till sundown probably before the heat takes full control of you."

Noting she had calmed a bit, he continued on and said "Right now, you have two options in dealing with this heat. The first is to seal you up in either a room at the Western Stronghold or for you to take refuge in a cave somewhere for three days."

"Getting yourself away from everyone will keep you from doing something you may not want to do. This option is a bit hard on some people, but it is possible to do."

Staying quiet for a moment, Sango slowly asked "Couldn't Kagome stay with me for those three days?"

"No." Iya flatly replied. "Foxes are very different from most demons. Gender doesn't matter to them when their heat overtakes them. Kagome is your friend, that I understand, but in your heat, you may do or force her to do something with you that you might regret."

Slightly horrified by his response, Sango sank to the ground. Tears began to well up in her eyes, making Iya softly sigh. "I know it's hard to hear that Sango, but that's the type of demon nature that is possible to come out. The most famous fox demon that I know of due to his heats is the mage Kurama. It's said that anything or anyone within the area of his heat should clear out, and fast. He's known to prefer females, but he also takes a male if he is that deeply plunged in the throes of his heat."

Nodding in response, Sango slowly stood back up and timidly asked "What is the other option to stop my heat?"

"The first was to let it run it's course for three days. Like I said, you'd have to stay somewhere alone. It would take three days to get it out of your system before you could leave, that much is certain." Iya explained. "The second option is something you may not like to hear."

Taking a deep breath, Iya finally said "The second option is to give into your heat and work it out over the course of a night. Once you and that person have taken the whole night to wear your body out, the heat will recede. It will be quelled, meaning you no longer need to be away from everyone."

Looking away a bit, Iya added "This option is for only if you're serious, at least to me, about being mates with that person. Maybe that's just the dog demon in me talking due that we prefer to take mates, not have sex with random strangers. Foxes are different, for not many take mates. It's just their nature."

"Foxes tend to not mate for life?" Sango asked with sadness visible in her voice. Feeling extremely sad, she fell to the ground onto her butt. In a barely audible voice, she muttered "But I love Miroku, I want to be with only him."

Noting Sango's ears were drooping heavily, Iya guessed that she was thinking she and Miroku could never be true mates, or marry one another without their natures tearing their relationship apart. Lightly sighing, he sat down onto his haunches and said in a comforting voice "As I said, foxes are different, but that doesn't mean they don't take mates. Most just choose not to."

Sango's ears perked up a bit upon hearing this. In a low whisper, she said "I hope that's the case."

"Sango, it's your choice on what you intend to do about your heat. I won't force you to make either decision, but I will warn you on one thing." Turning a bit more serious, he said "If you haven't picked by sunset, I will put you away for three days. Trust me when I say that it would be for the best if you weren't forced to have your first time with someone you don't know, or don't want to share it with."

Getting a nod in response, Iya sadly smiled at Sango. Quietly, she asked "May I have a little time to myself to make up my mind?"

Glancing up at the sky, Iya took an estimate guess at the time left before sundown and finally replied "Yes, you can have an hour or so. Is that enough time?"

"It should be." Sango quietly remarked. "Thank you. If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

"Of course." Iya replied while standing back up. "Lilly, come, let us take our leave."

Returning his gaze to Sango for a moment, he added "If we don't see you within the next hour or so, I'll come get you."

A silent nod was her only response while Iya and Lilly quietly walked away. Alone at last, Sango let the tears out that she had been holding back ever since Iya had delivered the news about her heat and that foxes don't typically mate.

"I'm such a fool to think Miroku would think of mating with me now and help me with my heat." she miserably muttered to herself.

--

Halfway back to the Stronghold, Iya noted that Lilly was very quiet. It was somewhat unusual to him, for he figured she'd have questions about what happened with Sango back at the stream.

Without warning, Lilly suddenly stopped moving. Hearing her footsteps come to a stop, Iya turned around and asked "Is something wrong Lilly?"

"Is that my future too Iya?" Lilly asked with a brokenhearted voice and tears seemingly welling up in her eyes.

Seeing this, Iya felt his heart ache at the sight, but restrained himself. Gently, he moved forward and softly asked "Do you mean that you'll have a heat?"

Getting a nod in response, Iya calmly replied "Lilly, not all half demons have heats. In fact, I've only heard of one half demon thus far that has a heat that was transformed by the mages. She was a young half battle demon, but that is only one mage that I've heard of have that happen in the two hundred and fifty years that I've chased them."

"Still, I'm a half neko demon… You said nekos and foxes tend to have more heats than other demons. Plus, Sango is a half silver fox demon. What if I have a heat also!?" she said with a touch of panic in her voice.

No longer able to hold himself back from his emotion, Iya wrapped Lilly in a warm embrace and whispered softly "It's alright."

Lilly was a touch shocked by the sudden embrace. "_He… he's actually embracing me?_"

After a moment, she melted into his embrace. Feeling her tension release, Iya softly chuckled in his mind at his foolishness. "_I've known her for such a short period of time, yet it matters so much to me about her mood. I'm getting soft, like Sesshomaru said I would, but I don't mind. It's kind of nice actually._"

Finally feeling her completely relaxed, Iya pulled her back and warmly smiled at her face. "Lilly, trust me when I say there are not many half demons that get heats. Very few, like a very low number, have ever had demon heats. I think Sango's is just by chance, not on purpose due to the mages. It makes no sense for the mages to have their slaves have heats, especially since they have their own to worry about."

Understanding his words, Lilly finally nodded and replied "Alright, I guess I won't worry about it."

"If you do have a heat though," Iya calmly began, "I'll help you through it. That's a promise, alright?"

Appreciatively smiling, Lilly replied "Thank you Iya."

"Now, let's get back to the Stronghold." he stated. "I'm sure the others are curious to where we got to."

The two began to slowly walk back towards the Stronghold together, although something weighed heavily on Lilly's mind. After a few minutes along, Lilly finally asked "Iya?"

"What is it Lilly?" Iya asked in response.

Stopping, she asked "Shouldn't we tell Miroku what has happened? Maybe he can help Sango through her heat."

"That is something entirely up to Miroku and Sango." Iya sternly remarked. Softening his voice, he added "But it wouldn't hurt to tell Miroku what's going on. He may wish to mate with Sango, who knows."

"They love one another, you know that, right?" Lilly questioned.

Sighing, Iya replied "I suppose they might. After all, I've not seen Sango let the monk out of her sights, and the way both stare longingly at one another is no doubt a sign of affection for one another."

"Then you think Miroku should help Sango out with this heat then?" Lilly excitedly asked.

Heavily sighing, Iya turned to Lilly and seriously said "Lilly, to fox demons, relieving one's heat is not considered glamorous or mean anything. It's just as it sounds: it's sex."

Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, Iya added "But to some foxes, few as it might be, it could be more meaningful, like how many demons view it."

"You could suggest that they mate…" Lilly ventured.

Sighing once more, Iya replied "That's up to those two again. I'll tell Miroku though."

"That's all I ask." Lilly replied with a sly smirk.

Shaking his head, Iya lightly chuckled and began the trek back towards the Stronghold with Lilly falling in behind him with a smirk on her face.


	22. Chapter 22: Decision

**Hey everybody! (/Hears group shout back "Hi Doctor Nick!"\) Uh, I'm not Doctor Nick… Lol, moving on, my weekend was pretty cool. I went and visited my grandparents Saturday, where my mom and sister had come in, along with my sister's boyfriend/intended (lol, I never know where to classify him). So, I got to visit with them, and we celebrated mine and my grandmother's birthday, plus Mother's Day. Heh, coincidentally, me and my grandmother have the same birthday, which is pretty cool. Lol, makes remembering dates easier, hehe. Anyways, we had a good time, and I learned that maybe my mom, sister, and her boyfriend will be going to the beach the same week we are. That'll be pretty cool, because my mate was somewhat weary of going with just me and her alone, but this should help ease her weariness I hope. They may change so that they're in the same motel, so we'll see. It'd be cool if we were, but if not, it's cool also. Just knowing someone else we know is down there is nice. Other than that, not too much happened. Yesterday, I visited my dad and step mom, which was fun. We sat and talked a while after dinner, mostly about random stuff. In the end, I went home and waited on my mate to come home.**

**Writing wise, I'm doing a good bit of work on this story, although I have many ideas for my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight (MtM)**_**. Until my coauthor gets back with his chapters though, it's kind of on hold, but it's all good.**

**Wow, I got a few new people that added my story to their fav stories, so thank you all. I'm happy to see the adds, plus I think I have a new add on alerts. Again, thank you all. And now, I'll go ahead and answer the reviews like always.**

**kattana: Thanks. I'm glad you've really liked my chapters thus far, and like Iya as well. Heh, he's kind of a combo of personalities really. I took the better parts of Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and of a character I had in my Yugioh stories known as Illidan, and combined them all. I think Iya turned out pretty good, plus his powers are unique as well, though a little similar at times to his half brothers. Lol, yeah, he's kind of a bit of an opposite of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but feels the same way at times also, so it just depends. Heh, yeah, it's hard not to like Iya. He's very lovable, that much is for sure. Thanks for the add to your favs, plus the review. I hope to hear from you again!**

**Micah Rapp Cullen: Lol, yes, from curvy women to near lemons. That chapter wasn't really very lemony, lol, or too close for the most part. Yes, things are heating up, hehe. Heh, I thought the small stint with Kagome's ears was nice too. Now she knows what Inuyasha feels when she used to do that to him, lol. Lol, yes, poor Sango, she was having a good time and Iya broke it up. True, you do feel bad for her since it's not really her fault that her fox nature is coming out. You never know, she may mate with her monk, but who knows, other than me. I know, quit being mysterious about things like that, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yep, Sango is in heat. LOL! No, Miroku didn't steal the Jewel and make that wish, I'm pretty sure, hehe. Although, I'm sure he wishes he had, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's about it for me. Thanks to all three of my reviewers. I really appreciate the feedback you all have given me throughout this story. And to any that has comments or questions, don't be shy. You can ask me almost anything in a review, although I can't promise I'll answer it, so long as it doesn't give away the plot.**

**Ok, final remarks before I leave. This chapter does have a lemon. It is not a very bad lemon, for it was my first, and I kind of was gentle with it. Still, it is a lemon, thus I have marked it for when it begins. For those who wish to skip it, just do a search for the words "End Lemon". It will take you right below the lemon. There are probably only two or three lemons total in this story, and this is one, so maybe two more, at most. So please, bear with me if you dislike lemons. They are not the center of this story. Lol, they're more like just a little extra, plus it gave me a chance to work with them for the first time, hehe. I just hope this doesn't turn any of you off to my story, and if it does, I apologize in advance.**

**At any rate, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 22**

Arriving back at the Stronghold, Iya bid Lilly farewell while he searched out Miroku. He easily found the former monk in his room with his eyes closed, seemingly in deep thought of something.

"Miroku…"

Opening his emerald eyes, Miroku looked to Iya and softly sighed. Standing up from his meditation spot, he asked "Is Sango alright?"

"She is for now. Are you alright?"

Letting out a sigh, Miroku slowly said "I suppose I am. I'm just surprised by how she reacted to me. Over the last five years that I've known Sango, not once has she acted the way she did this afternoon."

"It wasn't really her fault Miroku." Iya replied. Moving over to where the monk was, he sat down onto the floor, prompting Miroku to follow suit. Finally choosing his words, Iya calmly asked "Miroku, have you heard of demon heats?"

Thinking for a moment, the half red fox finally shook his head no. Heavily sighing, Iya realized he had to explain them. With another sigh, he slowly said "Demon heats are something that occurs to all male demons, of every species. Once every so often, pending on the demon type, the demon is consumed with one burning desire: to procreate."

Noting the monk hadn't shied away from his words, Iya simply continued on. "The heats vary in timing. Some are monthly, others seasonal, and some during annual periods of time. It just really depends on the type of demon. Anyways, in some species, not only are males affected but females are also. A specific species of demons that comes to my mind when I think of a type that both genders have heats are fox demons. Both male and female fox demons have occasional heats, as in nearly monthly."

"This is fascinating and all Iya, but what has this got to do with Sango!?" Miroku growled out with concern reflecting in his eyes.

"I'm getting to the point." Iya remarked with a slight touch of anger in his tone. Calming, he softly said "Half demons are for the most part blessed with the ability not to have demon heats, but not all are so lucky. Very few half demons have had demon heats."

Lightly sighing, Iya finally said "Sango is one of these unfortunate half demons."

Eyes lighting up with realization, Miroku quickly stood and turned away. Iya could hear his knuckles cracking while he clenched his fists tightly and his teeth grind.

"You mean to tell me my dearest Sango is suffering through a demon heat!?" Miroku lowly growled out.

Sighing a bit, Iya nodded in reply and stood up himself. "That's why she acted like she did earlier. She lost control of herself and her approaching demon heat took over."

An eerie silence filled the room upon this statement being made. Finally, Miroku broke it. "Iya, how do we help her get over her heat?"

"There are only two options for her to get over her heat." Iya softly remarked. "The first is she stays cooped up alone for three days. Her heat will subside by then."

"And the other option?"

Sighing, Iya slowly replied "The only other option is for her to work her heat off by giving into her desire. By giving into it, she could easily work it out of her system in one night."

Looking down, Miroku asked "So, in order to work her heat off, she has to have sex?"

"Yes…" Iya quietly remarked.

Sighing a bit, Miroku mumbled "Three days is a long time…"

"I know it is." Iya softly replied. "If there was another way, I'd tell you. Those are her two options though. Either stay away for three days or give herself to someone for one night."

Noting the monk was heavily troubled by his options, Iya bit his lip, pondering if he should suggest what Lilly had thought of. Shaking his head, he sighed and grumbled within his mind at even thinking of that option. "_That's their choice, not mine._"

"Are the heats painful?" Miroku asked, breaking Iya instantly of his thoughts.

Hesitating for a moment to answer, Iya finally slowly replied "From what I understand, they're somewhat if the demon doesn't relieve their need. The longer the heat goes, the more the desire will burn in their mind. It eases up on the third day, but still, that's three days of suffering."

Nodding, Miroku placed his hand under his chin. Iya looked to the monk and saw the doubt and worry in his eyes easily. Again, the thoughts that Lilly had mentioned to him entered his head, making him grumble again within his mind at allowing her words to stay in his head.

"Iya, what do you think I should do?" Miroku asked point blank, instantly snapping Iya into reality.

Crossing his arms, Iya softly said "It's not my place to say."

"But I want your opinion. After all, you're a half demon, thus you have a concept of what I should do." Miroku protested.

Shaking his head and sadly smiling, Iya looked away for a moment. "Miroku, my honest opinion shouldn't matter."

"I want to know though!" Miroku pushed. "Your opinion matters. I want to know what you'd do in my position, if Sango was your fiancé!"

Iya's brow's instantly furrowed and he asked "She's you fiancé?"

"Yes, we've been engaged for quite a while. Once we defeated Naraku, we planned on getting married, but we've yet to have time to do so." Miroku explained.

"_This changes everything. If I had known this, I might have suggested something from the start. Perhaps I should make mention of it._" Iya argued in his mind. After a moment, he finally made his decision.

"Miroku, are you thinking of helping Sango?" Iya questioned.

Looking away, Miroku mumbled "If I knew it would help ease her pain, I would, but I had hoped we'd be married before taking 'that' step."

Thinking carefully about saying what he had on his mind, Iya softly asked "What if the two of you became mates instead?"

"Mates?"

Apologetically smiling, Iya replied "Mates is the demon term for marriage. When you take a mate, the two of you… well, you know… do 'that…' Once 'that' is over, the male demon marks the female, and if the two love one another, the female will mark the male."

Frowning, Miroku asked "What kind of mark?"

"The mark is simple. All you do is sink you fangs into the junction of the neck and shoulder of the one you wish to mark, and then lick the wound clean. That mark will signify to other half demons and demons that that person is mated, and to whom. Again, like I said before, the female will in return mark the male if they love one another and wish to take that step in life normally." Iya explained.

Pondering on what Iya had told him, Miroku frowned lightly. "You say the act of taking a mate is like the act of marriage?"

"Yes, it is the same on principle, although mating ceremonies are private while human weddings are public." Iya slyly remarked.

Lightly blushing at this, Miroku asked "Would a mating work between me and Sango, since we are humans turned half demons?"

Chuckling at Miroku for toying with the idea, Iya simply replied "The mating should work. All you need do is mark her, and if you wish for her to mark you, have her do so."

Looking at Iya with a bit of disbelief, Miroku heatedly asked "You don't think I love her!?"

"No, it's not that. It's just some male demons don't allow the female to mark them, regardless of if they love one another or not. You should know one thing though if you do have her mark you."

In a deep serious voice, Iya sternly said "Once the two of you mark one another, your lives will be connected together. In other words, if one dies, the other dies. It is a unique physical link that demons create upon mating if they mark one another. If you only mark her, the link won't be complete, but if both of you mark one another, the link will be completed, and you'll basically become one. Just keep that in mind if you intend on mating with her."

Nodding lightly, Miroku softly asked "Where is Sango right now?"

"She's alone by the river. If you want, I can show you where, or you can track mine and Lilly's scents back to her. It shouldn't be hard for you to follow since the trail is rather fresh."

Taking a moment to weigh out his two options, Miroku finally replied "I'll go alone. I need to do this for her… and for us."

Standing up, Iya nodded and proceeded towards the door. "Feel free to come back to the Stronghold if you wish for more comfortable quarters." he slyly said with a smirk.

"Thank you Iya." Miroku mumbled, making Iya softly smile back.

"Think nothing of it. Now go help her out."

--

Following the trail Iya and Lilly had blazed, Miroku calmly paced himself in a light jog towards Sango's direction. On his back, he carried a pack that had a few blankets and a soft futon.

Moving along, his thoughts were in turmoil. "_If we mate, we'll permanently be bonded by our mating. But if I die, I don't want to kill Sango... As hard as it is to say that, I'd want her to be happy without me, not die with me._"

Thinking back, he remembered the many times he had nearly died, and each time how it had broke Sango's heart to see him so close to death. A memory instantly flashed in his mind of the one time the two had been alone, and she had admitted something to him that terrified him a bit.

"_Without you Miroku, I'd be nothing. I think if I'd ever lose you, I'd most assuredly perish not long after you were gone._"

He had adamantly argued against this, saying he always wanted her to be happy, but her only response shocked him to his core.

"_You are what continues to make me happy Miroku. Without that happiness, what is left for me? I lost my family already, and even though we have terrific friends, that wouldn't be enough to sustain me. It's you that keeps me going Miroku, and only you._"

She had later after that apologized and said she was being silly, but he knew Sango much better than that. The words had been genuine and full of love. "_No, she meant every word she said, and to be truthful, they're the way I feel._"

Refocusing on what he was doing, Miroku had also been debating on what to say to Sango when he arrived. He knew she would be feeling the effects of the heat, that much was certain. Still, he wanted her to know he was sincere in his efforts.

"_We may not be getting married, but I want her by my side always. As half demons, if that means by making her mate, then I will do it gladly. I just hope she accepts me._"

Sniffing the air, he realized just how close he was to her proximity. He could smell her intoxicating scent, which was spiced with the scent of her heat. Deciding to not announce his presence, he quietly crept towards her position.

Looking though the small tree line, Miroku saw Sango sitting alone by the river with her head resting on her knees that were pulled up to her chest. Her long brown and silver hair flowed freely down her back while her silver tail flicked a little bit. Noting her ears were swiveling a bit, he remained quiet till they moved back towards the river.

Staring down at the water, Sango lightly sighed. She had sat like this ever since Iya and Lilly had left her alone to think. It had nearly been an hour, and she had yet to decide on what to do.

"_If I decide to stay cooped up for three days, I won't do something I could regret, yet the others would have to wait for me, or I'd be three days behind them. Even with Kirara's help, it'd take a few days to catch back up._"

Heavily sighing, she then allowed the thoughts that had been kicked around in her mind that caused her so much turmoil to surface. "_But if I give into my heat and end it with someone, I can go with the others in the morning, no problems. But who am I kidding, I don't want to do that. Giving myself freely to some stranger would never work for me, besides, Miroku would be furious._"

"_I could ask Miroku..._" she mused, but quickly shook her head. "_No, I don't want to drag him into this mess. I love him dearly, but to force him into being with me before marrying..._"

The vein instantly popped out on her head at the thought of him accepting. "_He would, just knowing him! That pervert would jump at the chance to get me._"

Sighing a bit, she softly smiled and calmed down. "_No, Miroku isn't like that. He may joke about it, but I know him. He would never take advantage of me._"

Sango was so deep within thought that she never even heard Miroku creep up on her. Softly smiling at her, he sat down behind her and pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, causing Sango to let out a small "eep" in shock.

Turning to find Miroku, Sango heavily sighed and growled out "Miroku! Don't scare me like that!"

Lightly chuckling at her reaction, Miroku nuzzled the back of her neck and mumbled "My apologies my dearest Sango."

A slight shiver ran down Sango's back upon Miroku doing this, making her lightly gasp in shock at her own reaction. "Miroku…" she lowly mumbled.

Smirking at the reaction, Miroku pulled back and turned Sango to face him while she was in his lap still. Staring at her face, he softly smiled.

"Sango, Iya told me about your coming heat."

Sighing lightly, Sango looked away, only to have Miroku cup her cheek and turn her head back towards him. "Sango, he told me that the heat will make you stay away for three days if untreated."

"And I'll do that." Sango mumbled lowly.

Raising an eyebrow, Miroku asked "You know you have a second option, right?"

Looking away, Sango lowly said "I can't do that."

"Not even if we were mated?"

Shocked at his words, Sango turned back to find Miroku looking serious about his words. "Mated?"

"The demon equivalent of being married." Miroku informed. "We'd 'do it' and then mark one another, if you'd have me."

Eyes shimmering with tears, Sango tried hard to find words to speak. Taking her hands in his own clawed hands, Miroku smiled and said "There is a bit of a catch if we mate."

"A catch?" she asked with her breath hitched in her throat.

A small silence enveloped the two for a moment before Miroku finally said "If we mark one another, our lives will be connected. If one of us dies, the other will die too."

Understanding now why he had warned her, Sango softly smiled and gently replied "That doesn't matter to me."

Taking her hand from his, she cupped his cheek and added "Without you in my life, I would die inside right along with you."

"Sango…" he mumbled lightly. Without a moment's hesitation, he gently pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently. Moving his tongue to her lips, he asked for permission, in which she gladly gave to him. Both timidly tasted one another's mouths, with each growing a bit more confident with time.

After a minute, the two finally broke apart, each feeling the warmth spreading throughout their bodies, more so in Sango than Miroku. Resting their foreheads together, each lightly panted, but still aching for more.

"Sango, I want to be with you, no matter what happens to us. My life is yours, and I want to share every minute I have left in it with you, from now till the end."

Seeing the sincerity and love pouring out of his eyes, Sango lightly nodded and replied "Miroku, I want to share my life with you as well. I will always be by your side, even in death."

Taking his fingers and lifting Sango's face to his own again, the two kissed once more, again slow at first, only to increase in intensity. Bit by bit, Sango could feel her approaching heat attacking her mind, but she maintained her concentration.

"_There will be plenty of time to tame my heat once we're mated._" she lightly mumbled in her mind.

Deciding to act quickly, he broke up the kiss and gently moved her out of his lap. Standing up, he offered his hand, which she gladly accepted. Picking up the pack he had laid nearby, he led her away from the river and further into the woods to a small clearing that he had noted when finding her. Finally satisfied they would be left alone, he set his pack down and spread the futon out. Taking a seat, he pulled Sango down with him and the two gently kissed once more. After a moment, he deepened it, feeling her once more struggling to keep her heat in check.

**From here on is a lemon warning. This is just to let you all know. If you wish to skip this part, do a search for "End Lemon", which will take you to where the lemon ends. Thanks.**

Knowing the heat would be taking root in her mind soon, Miroku tried to remember to act quickly so Sango would have memories of their mating without feeling the heat had forced it to happen. Gently, he pulled back from the kiss and softly kissed her cheeks and worked her way down her jawbone. Hearing the soft gasp, he softly smirked and continued to work his way down to her neck and softly nipped at it while sucking as well.

Enjoying the sensation, Sango closed her eyes and tried to relax while fighting her heat off. Thus far, she had managed to maintain it, but still, it continued to flare up while the sun was slowly setting.

With careful hands, Miroku slowly placed them onto her shoulders, allowing them to creep downwards. One hand went to her back and traced down her spine, while the other gently rubbed the front of her chest. Feeling she was relaxed enough, he slowly dipped his hand on her chest downwards and lightly cupped her left breast, instantly getting him a small reaction from Sango. She had lightly jumped at the feeling, but quickly relaxed into his touch. Inwardly smirking at this, he continued to cub her abundantly large breast with his clawed hand and ran his thumb over the middle of it. Through the fabric, he could feel her nipple harden a bit and press tightly against the constraining material.

Satisfied with his work, he finally moved onto her right one, and once again cupped it while running his thumb over the middle of her breast. Soon enough, Sango began panting and lightly moaned at what he did. Gently, he took his hand from her back and cupped her other breast, doing exactly what he had been doing with his other hand. Instantly he was rewarded with another moan and softly smiled while he continued to nibble at her neck and collar bone.

Sango was already becoming lost in a sea of pleasure, but she still fought to control her raging heat. Bit by bit, it was rising to the surface, but she held it in check for dear life.

"_I won't let this ruin our mating, no matter what!_"

Feeling Sango fighting against her heat, Miroku decided to speed things up. With a simple motion, he untied her obi sash, allowing her kimono to slowly slip open a bit. Pushing her backwards onto her back, he gently pulled the kimono open, revealing her perfect body to him. Seeing her flesh before him, he felt his own body respond.

"_Not yet._" he grumbled. "_I've got to make her first time somewhat special. Still, I can't wait too long. If I do, her heat will take over._"

Glancing at her perfect body once more, he stared at the voluptuous curves, at how they accented her body greatly. Even though he had seen her naked previously due to his perverted ways, never had he ever been close enough to look it over at great detail. Staring at her, he memorized all of her body and felt his inner hunger increasing to take her.

Blushing lightly at his scrutinizing stare, Sango gently slid her kimono completely off and threw it to the side. Now totally nude, she felt a shiver of anticipation running through her while staring at Miroku.

Moving to her side, Miroku softly kissed her lips once more before pulling back and softly saying "Sango, you are the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes upon."

Not wanting to waste any more time, Sango sat up and pulled at Miroku's clothing. Deciding he needed to remove the offending clothing, he sat up as well and slowly took off his tunic and cape. Finally, he stood and removed his pants, making Sango softly gasp as his manhood emerged.

It was already half awake, making Sango just gasp at the size in general. Moving closer, she ran a clawed hand gently over it, making Miroku sharply gasp from the feeling of her claws lightly raking across his skin. She was easily rewarded by doing this with his manhood seemingly awakening nearly fully, making her inwardly smirk.

Laying back down with Sango, he pulled her down onto the futon and cupped her cheek with one hand while the other ran over her chest. After a few moments of teasing her breasts with his clawed fingers, he slowly moved his hand down lower. He gently touched her inner thighs with his fingers, earning him a loud gasp from her. Smirking in his mind at this, he made another pass, but this time on her other thigh. Again, the same result was achieved. Knowing he couldn't continue to tease her, he moved his hand softly through her coarse brown hair, touching her for a moment, earning him a larger gasp than before.

With Miroku's motion, Sango had nearly lost complete control of her heat. It had taken everything she had to hold it together due to what he had just done. Finally feeling a bit in control again, she opened her eyes and stared up at him. Mischief twinkled in his eyes, but understanding did also, thus he pushed her back to be flatly on her back.

Standing up, he moved down to between her legs and softly spread them. Lining himself up with her, he laid down on top of her and whispered "I'm sorry…"

She had not understood the meaning of his words till he had slowly pressed himself into her and felt a small stab of pain within her body. The pain soon subsided once he had fully seated himself within her, and was replaced with an overwhelming sensation of pleasure that Sango had never known before now.

Slowly, the two bodies rocked back and forth till finally each achieved their first climax, each simultaneously. The extreme pleasure nearly released Sango's grasp on her heat, and she felt like letting it go, but knew there was an important step left to finish before she could release her heat.

**Alright, here is the end of the lemon. From here on, things are clear again. End Lemon.**

Rolling off of Sango, Miroku moved close to her right side and began licking the juncture of her neck and shoulder. In a mere whisper, he apologetically said "I'm sorry if this hurts my dearest Sango. Know though with this mark, I take you as my mate forever."

Those words said, he sank his fangs into her neck, which instantly brought Sango to her senses and into full control of her heat. Removing his fangs after a moment, he licked the wound, effectively sealing it so that no blood ran out.

Sitting up, Sango pushed Miroku to the futon and began the same process of licking the juncture of his neck and shoulder on his left side. After a moment, she said lowly "Miroku, I accept you as my mate, and will be with you forever, no matter what."

Upon saying her words, she sank her own fangs into his flesh, making Miroku lightly grimace, but just lightly. Pulling her fangs out, she licked the wound and lapped up the little amount of blood that had came out.

With the two marks set, their auras instantly flashed around their bodies. The brown and gold aura's slowly mingled together, forming a new aura for each. The auras finally vanished, while both bodies lightly pulsated. Finally, the pulsating ended, and the two returned to normal.

Kissing Sango deeply, Miroku finally released her and said "Sango, know that I will always protect and love you, no matter what. You are my mate, my one and only one."

"And you are my one and only mate too Miroku. I will always love and protect you too." she softly replied.

--

Softly padding along with the group of half demons behind him after dinner, Iya inwardly smiled and pondered how Miroku and Sango were doing. He knew the two loved one another, and for Miroku to be willing to mate and thus joining their two lives together, he had no doubt that Miroku would be able to help Sango through her heat.

"Iya, where are Miroku and Sango!?" Inuyasha gruffly asked.

Lightly sighing, Iya tried to decide if he should tell his younger brother and friends what the two were doing, or let the pair do the explaining when they returned. Deciding on the later of the two, mostly due that he knew his brother would be able to tell by his scent if he was lying or not, he softly replied with a half truth instead over his shoulder.

"They're out. More than likely they won't be back till daylight."

"Why are they out? With those mages running about, shouldn't we go find them?" Kagome worriedly asked.

Taking a moment to choose his words, Iya stopped moving forward and turned to see her worried face. Realizing that she was truly worried, Iya warmly smiled and replied "I'll go check on them if you like Kagome."

"I would feel better if you did." she softly remarked.

Nodding lightly, Iya replied "I shall once you all start your training for the evening."

"Thank you." Kagome appreciatively replied.

Turning back around and moving forward once more toward the gardens, Iya said "Now then, we have much training to do. A few of you have to learn to use your swords."

"Keh, I'll teach Kagome." Inuyasha simply stated with an indifferent voice.

Lightly chuckling inwardly, Iya finally said "Very well, you may do it. Ichigo, I wish for you to help out Lilly in training her with her sword while I'm gone. Once I return, I'll resume it."

Grumbling lowly, Ichigo replied "Whatever…"

Smirking, Iya asked "Orihime, would you like to help Kohaku out in training his fire powers? You could defend yourself from his flames I figure, so you'd make a perfect partner."

"Yes, I'd gladly help him." Orihime piped up with a chipper voice.

"Thank you." Iya curtly replied. Noticing they had come to the doors that led to the training grounds, he said aloud "We're here."

Leading the group out into the training grounds, he began their training like always by splitting them up into their partners. Kagome and Inuyasha went off to one side, while Ichigo pulled Lilly to another part with a scowl, and finally Orihime and Kohaku began their training. Satisfied everyone was going to get along and train, he left the training grounds and headed outside of the Stronghold.

Walking slowly into the forest, Iya leapt up into a tree and leaned back against it. "_I have no intention on interrupting Sango and Miroku. This is a special time for the two of them, not to mention, with Sango in heat, I don't want anywhere near that scene._"

Lightly chuckling, he remembered when he was much younger, right before Inuyasha was born and after his father and Izayoi had mated, that he had accidentally stumbled upon an area where he smelled his father and Lady Izayoi. Thinking they were there talking or something, he arrived only to be horrified and find the two of them having sex! He was so shocked, that when he turned to leave, he accidentally crushed a stick under his foot, alerting his father to his presence. His father had quickly found him, while still stark naked, making the scene that much more comical to him. Izayoi had been thoroughly embarrassed, while his father had made no excuses. Iya had made his apologies for accidentally coming upon them, which his father accepted and put Izayoi's mind to ease.

"_I have no intentions on doing that to Sango and Miroku. They'll be fine for tonight, I'm sure of it._"

After nearly thirty minutes, Iya finally leapt down out of his tree and slowly walked back to the Stronghold. At the gates, the guard who had been rather rude the day before, Raal, scoffed at his return, making Iya stop and return to the front of the guard.

"Do you have a problem with me guard?" he lowly growled.

Raal held fast and remained quiet, slightly infuriating him a bit more. "If you have a problem, speak up. I'll be more than happy to take care of it for you." Iya growled out.

"Get lost half breed. You're a disgrace to your family, much like your younger bastard brother." Raal sharply remarked.

Clenching his fists, Iya could feel his blood boiling within his veins upon these words being said. "Why don't you prove to me what a full demon is like then?!" he hotly snarled.

Not moving away from the gate, Raal sneered and smugly said "I would love to half breed, but I do not wish to anger Lord Sesshomaru."

"Forget him!" Iya fiercely declared. "I will deal with you, like I should have yesterday!"

Smirking at this, Raal left his post and moved to away a bit from the gate till the two were in the center of the road leading to the gate. "Come then half breed, prove you are the son of our former Lord Inutaisho."

Both instantly dropped into fighting stances, with Raal grabbing the hilt of his sword and Iya doing the same to Ketsaiga. Each stared one another down, with Raal acting arrogant, thinking Iya had no chance.

After a minute of staring, Raal made the first move and drew his sword and charged forward. With little hesitation, he pulled his sword into a downward slashing motion, attempting to cut straight through Iya's chest.

Just as Raal was about to make contact, Iya vanished. Shocked, Raal glanced around for him, only to be rewarded with a hard punch to his jaw, sending him flying to the ground. Slow to get up, Raal looked to see Iya was unharmed and had been the one to deliver the blow.

"You!" Raal lowly growled.

Smirking at the reaction, Iya asked nonchalantly "Something wrong?"

Infuriated by Iya's words, Raal blindly slashed out at him with a side swipe, only to hit air once more. Finding Iya quickly, Raal charged forward with his sword swinging, attempting to piece Iya.

Iya simply dodged every attack Raal flung at him. The training he had received years ago had helped him learn how to dodge such attacks like Raal's. Plus, his years of being away from home and gaining experience in battle had taught him how to anticipate most of his opponent's moves.

Finally having had enough, Iya punched Raal hard in the mouth once more, flinging him hard to the ground again. Quick to stand up once more, Raal charged Iya, who simply side stepped him.

"Too slow." Iya flatly stated, infuriating Raal even more.

"YOU HANYOU BASTARD!" Raal roared while swinging his sword at Iya once more.

Iya easily avoided it and drew Ketsaiga. With a simple motion, he brought Ketsaiga quickly down upon the sword at a perpendicular angle and slashed completely through it, leaving only a few inches left of the sword.

In complete shock, Raal growled deeply and tossed his ruined sword aside. Giving a stern look at Raal, Iya sternly said "Stand down. You're a loyal guard to the Western Lands and my brother, Lord Sesshomaru, but you are no match for me. That much should be clear to you by now."

Charging forward, Raal yelled "SHUT UP YOU HANYOU BASTARD! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DEALING WITH!?"

With ease, Iya dodged by leaping into the air. He instantly landed behind Raal and pressed the tip of Ketsaiga to Raal's back. Raal instantly went rigid from this.

In a commanding voice, Iya sternly said "I am Iya Taisho, the son of the former Lord Inutaisho, half brother of Lord Sesshomaru, and half brother of Lord Inuyasha. You may not like that I am a Lord, but I am one, thus you will respect me and my brothers. Disrespect us and you will be sent away, punished, or ultimately killed. Make sure you remember this fight from now on, or I will return to remind you of your place. You serve all of our family, not just Lord Sesshomaru."

Withdrawing Ketsaiga, Iya simply sheathed it and began walking away into the gates. Before going through, he called back "Get a new sword from the armory once you've picked up that other's remains."

That said, Iya left, leaving a speechless Raal with clenched fists. Close by in a nearby bush, Sesshomaru lightly smirked at the defeated guard and walked away.


	23. Chapter 23: Heading Out

**Hey everyone! This week seemed to just fly by. I figured it would drag on due to all the rain we've been receiving, but no such luck, lol. Tuesday, I went to a graduation dinner for my step brother, who graduates high school next Friday. Heh, I'm kind of happy for him, because that means in the near future, he gets to leave home, thus saving him from my dad and step mom, lol. Hmm, nothing else really happened this week.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten lots done on this story this past week, and have plans for more stuff on it as well, as well as **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Both are moving along nicely, but neither are done. Heh, I'm probably not even close to finishing either story, lol. Oh well, I'll get there, eventually…**

**Alright, moving along, time for the reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, glad you like Iya. He is a bit of a smartass I suppose, hehe. Iya's definitely fun to write about. Yeah, I thought having Sesshomaru hanging back and just smirking would be a nice touch. You never know, we could see Kagome go into heat, or any of the others, but like Iya said, half demons rarely go into heat. It's kind of just by random chance when one does. Not like the mages purposely give their half demons' heats. After all, too much work to take care of their own heats plus their slaves. But that would be very nice to see Inuyasha turn into a puddle of white and red due to Kagome having a heat, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Micah Rapp Cullen: LOL! I don't blame you too much for not logging in. It's so troublesome sometimes. Glad you liked the chapter and was pleased with Sango and Miroku mating. Lol, yes, Iya kicks ass like always, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Kattana: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter. It was my first lemon, so I was kind of conservative with it, plus I tried to keep it toned down. This fic is rated T, although I've seen far worse lemons in T rated fics, lol. But like I said, it was my first lemon, and I was mostly testing the waters more or less, trying to get a feel for it and find out if anyone cared. Lemons don't bother me myself either, but I know it does some people, so it's all about balance, I suppose, lol. Glad you liked Iya beating Raal up, lol. I thought about having Sesshomaru stepping into the fight, but I figured I'd have him stay out of it. After all, showing favoritism to his brother would probably ruin his reputation, lol. But true, Sesshomaru normally don't allow stuff like that to happen, but I figured he allowed Iya to handle it, to assert his own authority, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews! I truly appreciate all of them and your feedback on this story. Btw, if anyone has any feedback, comments, or questions on this story, please feel free to post a review or PM me about them. I am more than happy to answer them, so long as it's not about giving away the plot. I have to have some secrets, hehe.**

**Again, thanks to my three reviewers. I hope everyone likes this chapter, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 23**

At long last, dawn finally broke over the hills guarding the Western Stronghold. The sunshine slowly filtered into Iya's room, instantly waking the half demon. Twitching his ears, he cracked open his muddy colored eyes at the window and softly smiled.

Taking in the scent of his room, he closed his eyes once more and enjoyed the multiple scents that assaulted his senses. He could smell the flowers his mother had grown so long ago, along with the numerous things that gave his room it's own special scent.

Turning over from his stomach to his back, he softly smiled at the feeling of the softness of his own bed and the feeling of being in a world he hadn't lived in for so long. Surrounding him were things from his younger life that he had enjoyed and treasured dearly. Many of these things were ones he had collected, while some where gifts from his father, his mother's former possessions, or things Sesshomaru had given him.

Cracking his eyes open once more, he heavily sighed. Staring up at the ceiling, he thought of all the years he had lived here, only to have to give it up and go chase the mages.

Pushing his memories aside, he got out of bed and put on his nearby silk robe. Quietly, he made his way out to his private hot spring and disrobed. He immediately went into the warm water and let out a contented sigh.

Closing his eyes, he sank deeper into the water till it was up to his chin. "_I wonder if I'll ever be able to return home and just enjoy everyday life that I left so long ago..._"

Deciding to push the thoughts out of his mind, he opened his muddy colored eyes and sank all the way into the water. Coming up for air after a minute, he pushed his hair back out of his face and moved till he was only shoulder deep in the water.

"_We will succeed. I know we will. I swore to Lilly I'd save her, and I meant my words. I won't allow any harm to come to her, no matter what happens._" he silently vowed.

Thinking of Lilly, his cheeks lightly heated up. "_I wonder what she does think of me. If only we didn't have these damn mages to deal with, I'd consider asking to court her, but with the mages on the loose, I can't be bogged down with such thoughts. I care for Lilly, there is no doubt about that in my mind, but I must remain in control of my feelings while with her. If the mages found out I like her, I'm sure they'd step up their advances in trying to take her._"

Growling lightly, he remembered how Ichigo had reacted when Kenshin had nearly taken her away. He knew Ichigo had told him about how he had nearly lost Rukia, his former mate, to the mage when he had cast his spell on her. The pair hadn't mated yet, but Kenshin had defiled her with his spell. In the end, Ichigo had killed his mate, breaking his heart and putting him on the path to avenge her death against the mage. The thoughts of Kenshin taking Lilly now infuriated Iya even further, knowing how sweet a girl she was and how evil Kenshin truly was.

"_I must not fail her. If it's the last thing I do, I will free Lilly, at any cost, even if I must lay down my own life._"

Dunking his head under the hot steamy water once more, Iya finally came up for air and shook the water out of his ears. Getting out of the water, he shook his body like a dog would, sending water all over the floor of the room. Grabbing a terry cloth towel nearby, he wrapped it around his body, using it to dry off the water. Slipping his robe on over top of it, he exited the hot spring and went back into his room.

Rummaging around for his hair brush, he finally found it within his dresser and began to brush out his wet long black hair. Finally finishing up, he grabbed a nearby ribbon that he always used to tie it back into place and pulled his hair into a large ponytail.

He originally had begun doing this when he was much younger, somewhat mimicking his father and Sesshomaru. Both had pulled their hair back into ponytails, with his father braiding his hair as well, but Iya refused to do this. Sesshomaru eventually let his flow freely after beginning to court Kaoru, for she liked running her fingers through it. Iya had chosen to keep his hair pulled back still, mostly due that in battle, it would fly into his face, causing momentary blindness, which could give his enemy an advantage.

Grabbing his nearby freshly washed clothing, he quickly shed his towel and robe and slipped into his pants. Slipping on his inner white kimono, Iya reached for his black outer one and slid it on over top of his inner one and tucked the excess into his pants. With a simple motion, he tied his obi sash and tucked Ketsaiga into it.

Fully finished, he glanced around his room for one more look. Noting the painting on his wall, he walked over to it and stared longingly at it. In the picture was of a young female half dog demon with calve length black hair, black dog ears, a black fluffy tail sticking out of her backside, and beautiful muddy colored eyes, much like Iya's. She wore a fine silk kimono with a skirt that was the color of blue and had pink sakura flowers embroidered into it, with a sword on her hip that had a pink hilt. The woman had a lovely smile on her face, and was very beautiful.

Staring longingly at the picture, Iya lightly touched the portrait's face and mumbled "Mother, I wonder what you were like. Did you feel the way I do about things? I ponder also if you even loved father…"

Sadly smiling, he shook his head and answered his own question. "No, I know you loved him. You wouldn't have been willing to help calm his heat that night if you hadn't. You gave so much to be there for him, but asked nothing in return. I'm so sorry you didn't get to watch me grow up. I can only hope that if you're watching me, you're proud of what I've accomplished in life."

Stroking the portraits face once more, he felt hot tears starting to slide down his cheeks. Removing his hand from the portrait and wiping away his tears, he sadly smiled and said "I promise you mother, I'll continue to make you proud. No matter what, I will save all of the people that the mages attacked. If I must give my life to do that, I will then."

Resting his forehead against the portrait, he softly said "For now though, know I love you and miss you terribly. Hopefully I'll be able to return home one day. Till then, know my thoughts are always with you. Farewell for now."

Moving away from the portrait, Iya wiped his eyes with his kimono sleeve, effectively drying up his tears. Glancing around the room for one final time, he heavily sighed.

"I'll miss this place…" he mumbled while his ears drooped lightly. Sadly smiling, he added "I suppose I'll return, one day."

With those words said, he opened the door to leave his room and quietly shut it behind him, leaving the world that he had known for only fifty years once more.

--

Waking at the break of dawn, Sango eyes slowly opened, revealing her golden eyes. They slowly adjusted to the sunlight coming down through the nearby trees, making it harder to focus her vision. After a moment, she saw she was clearly in the clearing that her and Miroku had moved to the night before.

Letting out a contented sigh, she felt Miroku's warm body behind her, holding her close to him with his arms encircling her waist. Snuggling in against him, she closed her eyes once more, with memories of the night flooding back to her.

Once they had marked one another and became mates, she had been unable to hold her heat back any longer and allowed it to take over fully. Miroku had helped her throughout the night, with the pair joining bodies multiple times till both were exhausted. This was a bit before dawn, but about that time, Sango's heat had finally subsided, allowing her to relax and sleep at long last.

Warmly smiling at the memory of the pleasure Miroku had given her, she shifted lightly so she was facing him. He was still fast asleep, with his breathing very even. Burrowing her head into the crook of his neck, she inhaled his scent, allowing her to always identify him with her nose. In his arms, she felt safe, secure, and well protected, not to mention loved. It was as if she had finally found the peace she had always been looking for in her life upon the two becoming mates.

Letting out a small sigh, she felt herself slowly being lured back to sleep, but suddenly felt Miroku shift. Opening her eyes, she saw his breathing had become normal to what how he always breathed when awake. Looking up, she saw his eyes were open and fixed upon her.

Smiling down at her, Miroku kissed her on the forehead and softly said "Good morning Sango."

"Good morning Miroku." she warmly replied.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. How about you?" she curiously asked.

Smirking a bit, he looked up at the sky for a moment before looking down and saying "Once you let me sleep, I slept rather well."

Blushing a bit, Sango apologetically mumbled "I'm sorry…"

Hushing her, Miroku shifted so that he could lean down and kiss her lips. He gently kissed her, making Sango relax a bit and smile inside. After a moment, the pair broke apart and stared at one another.

Heavily sighing, Miroku mumbled "I suppose we should head back."

"I guess so." Sango dejectedly added.

Pulling the blanket off of their nude bodies, Miroku rose up and stood and stretched his lean body. Sango watched intently, staring longingly at him.

Noting her stare, Miroku gave her a mischievous smirk. "The others won't be ready to leave for a while…"

"We should get back though." Sango quickly cut in.

She stood up as well and stretched her own body, giving her tail a swish. She padded over towards the pile of clothes, only to be tackled from behind and pulled to the ground with Miroku turning her so he was on top of her body.

"I think they can wait a little longer…" he purred.

--

Breakfast for the group of half demons and the demon lord was filled with quite a bit of chatter, mostly with it being between the girls. Iya was rather surprised at the amount of chatter the four girls had, with each talking about things, mostly feminine things, that he knew nothing or cared nothing of.

Like Iya, Inuyasha, Shippou, Ichigo, and Sesshomaru ate in silence, with Inuyasha scowling most of the breakfast at Sesshomaru. Iya had simply chose to ignore it after a while, not wanting any part of the two's personal hatred of one another.

Once breakfast came to an end, Sesshomaru turned to Iya and asked "Where are the monk and demon slayer? We must be off soon."

"Yeah, where are Sango and Miroku? I didn't see them at all last night at dinner, and none at all night." Kagome added.

Sighing, Iya smoothly said "They'll be along, I'm sure of it."

"They had better brother, for this Sesshomaru shall not wait for them." Sesshomaru stoically responded.

"The hell you won't wait for them!" Inuyasha snarled. "They're a part of this mission also, so don't think you can leave them behind!"

Heavily sighing, Iya calmly said "Inuyasha, no one will be left behind, even if I must stay behind to get them. They will return soon enough, I'm sure of it."

"If they are not back at midday, we shall set out." Sesshomaru stated.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha was about to snap an answer back when Iya shook his head, making Inuyasha slowly back down. "Very well, we shall leave at midday brother." Iya remarked.

Wordlessly, Sesshomaru left the table and headed towards his study, where Iya knew he would immerse himself into his paperwork. Softly sighing, he silently prayed that Sango and Miroku would return before time to leave.

--

Midday was about to break, with the half demons meeting at the front gate. There was still no sign of Sango and Miroku, worrying Kagome very much, along with Shippou and Kohaku. Inuyasha tried to pretend not to worry, but the group could tell by his irritable mood that he was concerned too.

At long last, Sesshomaru calmly said "Let's move out. The sooner we can arrive at that troublesome mage's home, the better."

"But Miroku and Sango haven't made it back yet!" Kagome quickly declared while moving to behind Sesshomaru.

Turning towards her, Sesshomaru icily responded "The monk and demon slayer shall be left behind then."

"Hold on Sesshomaru, who died and made you leader!?" Inuyasha snarled.

Glaring at Inuyasha, Sesshomaru stoically remarked "This Sesshomaru is trying to ensure that this Sesshomaru's ward is saved. If you wish to strike out on your own, this Sesshomaru will not stop you."

Growling loudly, Inuyasha clutched the hilt of Tetsusaiga tightly and prepared to draw it when suddenly Iya appeared between him and Sesshomaru. Turning a glare from one to the other, Iya snarled "Enough! This bickering between the two of you is pointless! We're brothers, so let's act like it!"

Not backing down, Inuyasha accusingly replied "Keh, I'm not the asshole who thinks only of himself before everyone else and has his own agenda in mind."

"You shall not slander this Sesshomaru, you foul **half breed**!" Sesshomaru replied with a touch of anger in his voice.

"ENOUGH!" Iya yelled, making most of the half demons flatten their ears. Turning an angry glare towards one and then the other, he snarled "This bickering is not helping!"

Calming down a small bit, he turned to Sesshomaru and strongly said "Sesshomaru, I know you wish to save Rin, but you must remember there are four others who need the same help. We should wait for an hour more on Miroku and Sango."

Noting Iya's serious voice, Sesshomaru wordlessly began walking back towards the Stronghold. Passing by Iya, he lowly whispered "Brother, I shall do this only for you this time."

With that said, he continued onward towards the Stronghold. The group stared in shock at the seemingly retreating figure of Sesshomaru and turned to Iya.

"I've never seen anyone talk to Lord Sesshomaru like that and live before." Rin commented, instantly breaking the silence and shock of the group.

Chuckling, Iya replied "Me and Sesshomaru have always had talks like that since we were kids."

"Keh, that asshole needs to learn that Rin isn't the only person who needs help here." Inuyasha nonchalantly stated while picking at his ear with a clawed finger.

Heavily sighing, Kagome muttered "Sit boy."

Inuyasha's prayer beads immediately glowed to life and sent him plummeting to the ground, creating a small crater. The entire group, other than Inuyasha, all chuckled at his position.

"Sorry Inuyasha, but you shouldn't be so brash towards Sesshomaru." Kagome lightly said while kneeling down next to his fallen figure. "He's only trying to do what is right, much like you."

"Damn it Kagome, quit saying that word!" he snarled while slowly getting up once the spell wore off.

Sighing lightly, she replied "Not until you can behave yourself."

Grumbling to himself, Inuyasha stood up and stomped off to fume. Watching him leave, Shippou muttered "Idiot…"

--

Nearly an hour had passed, with Inuyasha staying far away from the group in a tree, seemingly sulking. With the time fast approaching to leave, Iya began pondering what had happened to the happy couple.

"_Her heat should have subsided last night. Damn it you two, get back here quick before the others have to head out and I have to wait on you._"

Hearing someone approaching, he glanced over to see it was Sesshomaru at his casual pace like always. Arriving at the group, he looked to Iya and said "It has been an hour brother, and this Sesshomaru will no longer wait. It will take a whole day to reach Ryo of the Wildfire, and this Sesshomaru will waste no more time."

Sighing in defeat, Iya nodded and replied "I understand. I shall wait for Sango and Miroku myself. We should hopefully catch up before too late tonight or tomorrow."

"Very well brother, this Sesshomaru shall proceed ahead." Sesshomaru stoically remarked. Turning to the others, he calmly said "Those who wish to follow, come. Those who don't wish to follow, stay."

Most of the group looked to Iya for guidance, who sighed lightly and was about to respond when he picked up two familiar scents coming towards the group. Scanning the area with his sharp eyes, Iya saw the pair of half fox demons that the group had been waiting on rushing towards the Stronghold.

"WAIT FOR US!" Miroku cried out, earning everyone's attention.

Seeing them coming, Kagome smiled brightly and ran to the two. Hugging Sango, she said "I'm so happy you made it! We were about to have to leave you behind."

Apologetically smiling, Sango replied "We're sorry for being late."

"What were you two doing anyways?" Inuyasha asked while sauntering up.

Sango instantly blushed a bit, but Miroku quickly cut in and said "If it's time to go, we must quickly get some things we left at the Stronghold. Is that alright Iya?"

Iya simply nodded, much to Sesshomaru's chagrin. Rushing off towards the Stronghold, Miroku dragged Sango along, leaving the group to watch them go.

Moving only close enough so Iya alone could hear, Sesshomaru lowly said "They have mated."

Smirking back at Sesshomaru, Iya nodded lightly, only to earn the group's look of curiosity. Frowning while sitting on Kagome's shoulder, Shippou leapt over to Inuyasha's shoulder and whispered in his ear "Why are Sango and Miroku's scents different?"

"Feh, why you asking me runt!?" Inuyasha lowly grumbled in reply.

"Well, you're older and should know." Shippou sharply remarked.

"Feh, leave me alone runt!"

"But I'm…"

Without another word, Inuyasha grabbed Shippou by his tail and threw him off into the distance with Shippou loudly screaming before crashing into a nearby tree. He quickly fell to the ground with spiral eyes and lightly moaning. Lilly, Rin, and Orihime were quick to rush to him while Kagome clenched her fists angrily. Her eyes filled with fire and she stalked over to Inuyasha and jabbed a clawed finger into his chest.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!? YOU COULD HAVE HURT SHIPPOU!" she snarled, making Inuyasha flatten his ears.

Not one to back down, Inuyasha gruffly replied "The runt had it coming. He wouldn't leave me be."

Growling loudly and putting her hands on her hips, Kagome heatedly shot back "He didn't deserve to be thrown into a tree! You could have seriously hurt him!"

"Feh, the great fox demon Shippou wouldn't ever get that hurt." Inuyasha mockingly replied.

Clenching her hands, Kagome loudly shouted "SIT BOY! SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT!!"

The prayer beads suddenly activated around Inuyasha's neck and slammed him into the ground. With each command, he slammed harder and harder into the ground with a large yelp while creating a large hole in it.

Still furious, Kagome glared down into the hole and yelled "SIT!" once more, for good measure, making him yelp out once more in pain. Satisfied, she angrily stamped off over to where Shippou was while the others watched in a bit of shock.

"Miss Kagome is very scary when she's angry." Kohaku lowly muttered to Iya, who could only chuckle at the comment.

Sesshomaru lips lightly twitched at the comment, making Iya softly smirk inwardly. Seeing that the carnage was over, Iya walked over and checked on his younger brother and softly smirked. "That looked painful…" he softly mumbled into the hole.

"FEH!" was the only response to come from the hole.

After a few minutes, Inuyasha slowly rose up out of the hole, covered in dirt and dust. Shaking it off of him, he glared in Kagome's direction and gnashed his teeth together in fury. He began to move in her direction, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder Glaring to see it was Iya, Inuyasha was about to yell something when Sango and Miroku came running back to the group.

"Sorry we held you guys up, but Sango left her Hiraikotsu behind, plus I decided to carry this staff instead of my old one." Miroku explained.

Noting that the girls were all checking on Shippou, Miroku frowned and asked "What happened?"

Standing up with Shippou in her arms, Kagome emotionlessly said "Nothing. Let's go."

Raising an eyebrow, Miroku looked to Inuyasha for answers, only to find the half demon with a scowl on his face. Deciding not to ask at that moment, the group gathered up and prepared to leave.

Moving out, Iya and Sesshomaru took the lead with Lilly, Rin, and Kagome, who carried Shippou in her arms, falling in behind them. Sango and Miroku, with Kirara on Sango's shoulder, fell into line next. Behind them, Ichigo, Kohaku, and Orihime followed, leaving Inuyasha, who was still fuming, in the rear of the group.

--

For nearly six straight hours, the group ran in formation. It was nearly dark now, so Iya decided to stop for the night and setup camp. Sesshomaru was somewhat against the idea, but after hearing Rin saying she was somewhat tired, dropped the issue.

After gathering up some fish for dinner and building a fire to cook them, the group went off and began their evening training. Things went well till exactly at dark, when suddenly something happened.

Without warning, in mid-sparing, Miroku's body pulsated and forced him to fall to one knee, alarming Sango immediately. The others close by, Orihime and Kohaku, instantly came running to his side while Sango quickly fetched Iya. The pair soon returned to the former monk's side.

"What's happening to him Iya!?" Sango worriedly asked while holding her mate's hand.

Sniffing Miroku, Iya frowned and took another sniff. Inhaling Miroku's scent, Iya frowned once more till finally he deduced the problem.

Watching Miroku's form pulsate once more, Iya softly said "It's his night."

Confused, Sango was about to ask when suddenly the sun finally sank from the sky completely, leaving nothing but the night sky with a quarter moon. With the sun completely gone, Miroku's body pulsated again and again, till suddenly his hair color changed to black, his fangs shrank back to normal human teeth, and his fox ears vanished while human ones sprouted out the side of his face. His claws were next to shrink back to normal fingernail length. Lastly, his tail was sucked back into his body and his eyes changed from an emerald green to violet.

Looking at his hands in shock, Miroku stared up at Iya in confusion. "I'm human again?" he questioned.

Lightly chuckling, Iya softly said "It's your period of weakness Miroku. In other words, the night you lose all your demonic powers and become a human."

Looking up to the sky, he added "Tonight's moon phase is the Quarter Moon. Interesting…"

"Why is that interesting?" Sango asked with a bit of worry.

Softly chuckling, Iya warmly said "The very few half fox demons I've met have always transformed into a human during a crescent moon. Heh, they say that it's due to the lure the crescent moon has on fox demons."

"Lure?" Miroku questioned while standing up.

Smirking, Iya replied "Foxes, much like wolves and dogs, are very fascinated with the moon, but only the crescent one. It's due that they think so much of it was stolen."

"Oh…" both Sango and Miroku replied lightly.

In a serious tone, Iya calmly said "Stay close to camp tonight Miroku. I don't want anything to happen to you while you're human, understand?"

Getting a nod, Iya softened his expression and said "Good. I guess for now, Sango, just relax and protect Miroku. We'll quit our training in the next hour or so."

Nodding in reply, Sango pulled the monk behind her to a nearby tree and the two sat down at the base of it. Satisfied that they'd be fine for the time being, Iya got back to working with Lilly in her sword training.

--

With training finishing up, the girls found a hot spring nearby and begged the others to let them go to it. Iya simply shrugged and warned them to keep their senses open in case they were attacked like recently, which Orihime agreed to do. With that decided, the five girls left the camp and went to the hot spring.

One by one, the girls disrobed and lowered themselves into the hot steamy water. Each let out soft moans from the warm waters reaction to their skin and relaxed against some rocks.

Noting a set of twin dots on the juncture of Sango's neck and shoulder, Kagome curiously asked "Sango, what's that?"

Knowing Kagome had spotted the mark, Sango smiled and remained quiet. Not getting an answer, Kagome decided to ask another question. "Where were you and Miroku last night?"

"We went out for a while." Sango softly remarked.

Frowning, Kagome finally asked "What happened?"

Lightly smiling, Sango warmly said "We mated last night."

Hearing those words, Kagome accidentally slipped and fell deeper into the water. She soon came out of the water sputtering and coughing. "You two did WHAT!?"

"We mated last night Kagome." Sango repeated. "You know what mating is, don't you?"

"Yes, I know, but I didn't expect you and Miroku to do it." Kagome remarked. "I thought the two of you were going to get married instead…"

Frowning, Sango softly said "We wanted to, but something arose that made us mate instead…"

"What?" Rin asked, making Sango blush a bit.

"What it was doesn't matter really." Lilly cut in. "We should just be happy for her."

Looking to Lilly with a bit of shock on her face, Sango warmly smiled when Lilly winked at her. "_Thank you for the save Lilly._"

"I guess so." Kagome mumbled. Smiling great big, she moved to Sango and embraced her in a hug. "Congratulations Sango!"

Moving forward, Lilly did the same, followed by Rin and Orihime. Finally done with the hugging, Sango leaned back against the warm rock and closed her eyes.

"So, when are you two going to start having pups?"

Opening her eyes immediately to stare at Orihime in shock, Sango slowly asked in shock "Pups…"

"Yeah, you know, what you get from having sex? Tell me you know where pups come from." Orihime replied.

Blushing deeply, Sango sank into the water deeper to hide her face while Rin frowned a bit and asked "Where do pups come from?"

"Very good question Rin!" Orihime chirped with a smile. "You know about having your monthly, right?"

Lightly blushing a bit, Rin nodded. She remembered that Momo had sat her down during her first time and explained to her what was happening, although it was a condensed version due that Sesshomaru had instructed Momo on what to say exactly.

Kagome, Sango, and Lilly each grimaced at the thought of where the conversation was going. Getting her response, Orihime smiled and said "Well, right after your monthly, you're fertile, meaning if you have sex, you run the risk of getting pregnant! Once you're pregnant, you carry the pup around in you for five months if it's a full demon, seven if it's hanyou, and nine if it's human. Eventually, the time comes and you have the pup, which comes out between your legs!"

Rin looked in shock, fear, and grimace back towards the other girls while Orihime kept on smiling. The three other girls each heavily sighed, pondering if Orihime had any modesty at all.

--

"I take it things went alright?" Iya softly asked.

Turning his glance to Iya, Miroku nodded and pulled his collar down a bit on his tunic to reveal a mating mark on his lower neck. "Yes, everything went alright."

Seeing the mark while sitting in the nearby tree, Shippou leapt out of it and onto Miroku's shoulder. "Miroku, where were you and Sango last night, and what is that mark?"

"Well Shippou, last night, me and Sango had wild, crazy …"

Earning a glare and a loud growl from Inuyasha, Miroku gulped at the wordless threat and slowly said "We became mates."

"Mates!?" Ichigo quickly questioned with a raised eyebrow. Smirking, he added "That explains a lot."

"Feh, a whole lot. No wonder you two were late and your scents were different. Here I thought I was just losing my mind." Inuyasha commented.

Kohaku remained quiet, but took in the conversation. In his mind, he was smiling, for he was happy for his sister, but sad at the same time that he seemed alone now.

Smiling at the former monk, Iya calmly said "I congratulate you on your successful mating. I wish you a long life with her."

"Thanks. I'll need it with the way she reacts whenever I grab her…"

Without warning, Miroku got walloped on the head by Inuyasha, causing a small bump to form. "OW!" Miroku quickly yelled out and held his head. "Damn it, I'm not used to this much pain."

Softly chuckling at Miroku, Iya said "You'll get used to it. Besides, it only happens once a month."

"I guess…" Miroku muttered while rubbing his lump.

Smirking with mischief in his eyes, Ichigo asked "When are you two going to start having pups?"

Miroku blushed lightly at the question while Shippou frowned. After a moment of silence, he asked "Miroku, where do pups come from?"

Instantly, Ichigo, Inuyasha, Kohaku, and Iya burst out into fits of laughter, with Inuyasha falling to his side while laughing so hard. Miroku could only heavily blush at the question while selecting his words carefully.

After a minute, he finally smirked and retorted "Well Shippou, where they come from is…"

Before he could say a word more, Inuyasha bonked the monk on the head hard, making him yelp out in pain and cradle his new lump.

"You're too young to know yet." was the only response Inuyasha gave, effectively ending the conversation.


	24. Chapter 24: The Plan

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend was interesting. Saturday, I went and helped my dad put up a building that he had bought back in the winter. He actually bought two, but we had put one up back in February or March, then the other Saturday. It didn't take nearly as long as the first one, due that we knew somewhat what we were doing this time, lol. We had it together in 4 hours, with exception of the doors not being on it, but that didn't take long from what I heard to put on. After that, I went shopping with my wife, who got a bit irritated with me. Lol, I was trying to cheer her up, but she got rather irritated and frustrated with me I believe during the grocery shopping, but oh well. It's one trip I prefer to forget, hehe. On Sunday, I went to my grandparents to visit my grandfather. He was doing well and talked with me quite a bit while my grandmother went shopping for food and dinner. I left eventually, but like I said, it was a pretty nice day. Other than that, my personal life is about like normal, with nothing going on, lol.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a good bit done on this story recently. I've got lots of inspiration I suppose, plus my other story is on hold till the next duel is wrote in it, so I'm semi free to think on this story and the other. Also, I've figured out that this story will be a bit longer than 50 chapters, just to give you all a heads up. Probably under 60, but maybe more. I'm just not sure really. Depends on how things go, lol.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Yes, the moment with Miroku and Shippou was fun to write, with Inuyasha quickly shutting that conversation down before Miroku could explain, lol. Oh boy, I got slammed by your review, lol. Kidding of course. I'm glad you really like this story thus far. I try hard to keep the grammar correct, plus I really work hard at laying out the plot and so on so the story has a consistent theme to it. It's hard, but I try, lol, and usually I get it, but not always I'm sure. I understand what you mean about not reading much. Between writing this story and my other, it's hard to find time to read, and when I do, I only prefer to read stories that are well written and have a nice plot to them, along with decent grammar. It's hard to find some stories like that anymore. I understand about not commenting much on the lemon. I wasn't sure what the reactions would be to it, mostly due that I've never done one. I've read them, but writing them, heh, never and just thought I'd try my hand at it. This story only has three total, so no worries on it becoming a reoccurring thing, lol. Lol, yes, I dislike stories with Kagome doing both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, with no real principle or theme behind the story, only to rely on a lemon to tell the tale. That's not the way things go. True, people screwing with character's judgment kind of sucks. I try and stick with the original characters personalities, although sometimes it is difficult to do, much like with Inuyasha, who is gruff but sensitive also. It's cool about the rant, lol. Thanks about my lemon. I tried to be tasteful with it. Heh, my wife said it was done reasonably well, although she thought I should have changed it. Of course, she had more interesting comments on the next one after I described it to her, lol. But yes, I made sure that the lemon fit in with the plot, along with a sense of decency within it. Heh, yeah, I suppose I am maybe thinking more of how Kagome "sat" Inuyasha constantly in the early part of the show, plus some of the later part of the anime, although I rarely saw her sit him in the manga. It seemed like every little thing, she sat him. I'm not trying to show comedy always with her sitting him, but more of her frustration with him acting as he is, seemingly undoing everything he had tried to become. I don't know if that made any sense or not, lol. But I may remove some of the sits. I believe from what I remember, she tames down slowly, so no worries about it. Heh, true, Inuyasha is a bit grumpier than normal, but that's mostly attributed to the fact he's traveling with Sesshomaru. Even in the manga, he didn't like Sesshomaru near Naraku's end, hence I carried that theme over, although Sesshomaru seemed to learn to tolerate his little brother a bit better. True again though that he mellowed out after he thought he lost Kikyo, but like I said, having Sesshomaru around has got him wound up tight, plus the fact he knows Kagome only has so long before the mages can take her away can't be helping. I hope that explains my reasoning behind him being so grumpy. I thank you for your feedback, it's very helpful and intuitive into what I'm doing. I did happen to get some free time there Friday, so I managed to read a few of your one-shots. I plan on going back in and reading more of your completed stories, but just haven't had time due to work. I'm not really into Harry Potter unfortunately. My wife is more into it, but I've just not gotten into it myself. Thanks for this wonderful review, it's been very helpful!**

**Kattana: Lol, yes, it's very much like Miroku to go into details when he shouldn't, hehe. True, Miroku should be used to getting hurt so much by Sango, but Inuyasha did prove that one wrong, hehe. Possibly he has a fetish of getting hit by ladies, lol. You never know with him, lol. I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far, and thank you for your review!**

**Micah Rapp Cullen: Awkward. See, I can say it! Lol, but yes, very funny times in the last chapter. Yeah, a little lighthearted humor in the middle of a serious situation is always fun, hehe. Lol, yes, Shippou and Rin had an interesting night with Orihime and Miroku, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, each and every one of you that reviewed this past chapter. I really enjoyed reading them. It's always fun to read the feedback for this story. Again, I thank each of you for your reviews. And to any who haven't reviewed, please do feel free to review. As I'm sure you've all noticed, I'm approachable. I won't bite your heads off if I get a bad review. Heh, negative feedback is just as appreciated as positive. It lets me know where I stand on my ideas and thoughts. Again, to any who haven't reviewed, think about reviewing. It's fun to hear what the author has to say back to you usually.**

**At any rate, this is it for me today. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 24**

The girls finally returned an hour or two later, where the group congratulated the blushing couple thoroughly on their mating, with exception of Sesshomaru who stayed off to the side alone. Soon enough, it was time for sleep, with Miroku curling up with Sango in his lap while leaning up against a tree. The others found their spots on the ground while Iya, Inuyasha, and Ichigo took to some trees, and Sesshomaru found one to lean against.

Soon enough, morning came and went, with Miroku returning to his former half demon self again. Setting out once more, the group held formation while running like the day before, with Kagome and Inuyasha still not getting along.

After running half the day, the group finally came to a set of rocks that created a strange looking formation. They had taken the shape of a dog, leaving most of the group to believe that it wasn't a natural formation.

Approaching the formation at a slow walk, the group, with Iya leading, surveyed the area, trying to figure out why the region was so desolate.

"Why does Ryo live out here alone?" Lilly asked.

Lightly smiling, Iya replied "He's a mage and prefers to live alone. Out here, he can train and study freely and is his own master. With no one around to tell him what to do, he basically does as he likes."

With a bit of a chuckle, he added "Also, he is rather lazy."

The group all had a light chuckle at this, but Iya stayed on guard. "_Even though me and Ryo are friends, that doesn't mean I won't run into one of his booby-traps. I've been lucky to only trigger a few in the past, but with a large group, we need to be careful._"

Sniffing the air, Iya found nothing nearby and continued to move carefully. The group continued to follow behind him, with most seemingly paying no attention.

Without warning, Kohaku stepped on a small rock, which quickly depressed to the ground and caused a tower of flames to erupt from underneath him. The group all jumped back, with Sango screaming for her brother.

The flames soon dissipated, revealing a shocked Kohaku. The group could only gasp in shock that he wasn't hurt, but since he was a half fire demon, the group instantly realized that fire couldn't hurt him, plus his clothing was that of the fire rat, meaning it was unfazed as well.

"That was surprising." Kohaku muttered lowly, earning him a chuckle from part of the group.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Iya calmly said "We should be more careful. I had thought maybe Ryo hadn't set any traps recently, but I guess I was wrong."

"You could have warned us a little sooner!" Inuyasha was quick to growl out with a scowl.

Shrugging, Iya turned back towards the dog shaped rock formation. In a loud booming voice, he yelled "RYO! RYO OF THE WILDFIRE!"

Getting no response, Iya clenched his fists and yelled "RYO, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE! IT'S ME, IYA TAISHO!"

This time, there was some reaction. A blue shimmering portal formed in front of the group. Stepping lightly out of it was a young man with jet black hair that reached his mid-back, pointed ears, two green cheek marks that were curved, and two piercing brown eyes. He wore a red set of robes with a white and red bodysuit underneath, while there was a sword on his right hip.

Staring at Iya, the young man smirked and rushed forward. The two embraced and laughed together. Pulling apart, Iya smiled great big and said "You haven't changed much Ryo."

"Neither have you, although you have more company than before." Ryo commented.

Lightly chuckling at the comment, Iya turned around and said "Everyone, I'd like all of you to meet my best friend since I was a kid, Ryo of the Wildfire. He was born about the same time as I was at the Western Stronghold."

The group all curtly nodded, with exception of Sesshomaru. Seeing him, Ryo smirked and teasingly asked "You're not still mad at me after all this time are you Sesshomaru?"

"This Sesshomaru does not hold grudges."

Chuckling, Ryo replied "I'll take that as a yes. I'm so sorry for that day, but remember, I was just an apprentice mage at the time. I couldn't help it that my powers got out of control."

"What happened exactly?" Lilly questioned, curious to what they were talking of.

Lightly chuckling while receiving a glare from Sesshomaru, Iya calmly said "When me and Ryo were kids, Sesshomaru would take us out on hunting parties, and sometimes we'd stay the night out. On one particular night, Ryo was in charge of starting the fire. Well, being an apprentice mage, Ryo decided to use magic to start the flame. He was concentrating on the wood when Sesshomaru came walking up straight in front of the fire pit and dropped some wood into it. Surprised, Ryo looked up and accidentally set Sesshomaru's kimono on fire. It was kind of hilarious to watch Sesshomaru run straight by me with flames roaring off his kimono. He found a pool of mud not far away and leapt into it, dousing the flames, but effectively covering him in mud and making him rather sour. Ever since, he's not talked, nor had any contact with Ryo. I think it's a grudge, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would." Ryo nodded with a smirk.

Sesshomaru only lightly growled and began to walk away. "Don't be like that Sesshomaru!" Iya called after him. "We're just joking."

Letting an indignant grunt out, Sesshomaru returned to the group with his emotionless mask still on. Figuring they had had enough fun at Sesshomaru's expense, Iya smiled and said "I guess I should introduce everyone to you."

Pointing out each person, Iya slowly said "First, we have Ichigo here, which you already knew."

"How have you been Ichigo?" Ryo curtly asked.

"Whatever." Ichigo responded with a scowl.

Sighing lightly, Iya moved on and pointed to the next two, saying "This is Sango and Miroku here. As you can tell, both are half fox demons, with Miroku being red and Sango silver. Also, they just mated two days ago."

Taking Sango's hand, Ryo kissed it and politely said "It's a pleasure to meet you my dear."

Watching this, Miroku lowly growled and bared his fangs, making Ryo quickly let go of Sango's hand. "A bit possessive I see." Ryo commented.

Lightly chuckling at Ryo, Iya moved on and said "This here is Lilly, who is a half neko demon."

Doing like he had with Sango, Ryo kissed her hand and politely said "It's a pleasure to meet you also my dear."

Iya fought the urge to growl while watching Lilly's cheeks heat up a bit. Finding her voice, she finally replied "Nice to meet you."

Nodding, Ryo looked to Iya for who was next. Keeping a firm grasp on his inner anger over what Ryo had done to Lilly, he moved on and said "Next here are Kagome, Inuyasha, and that little guy on her shoulder is Shippou. As you can tell probably, both are half dog demons and Shippou is a red fox demon."

Preparing to take Kagome's hand, Ryo was interrupted by Inuyasha moving in front of her, who gruffly said "Don't do that."

"By the way, Inuyasha is my younger half brother." Iya explained while Ryo retreated a bit.

Looking back between Iya and Inuyasha, Ryo finally nodded and said "That explains the similarities between your two's looks. It's nice to meet all three of you."

"Feh."

"Sit boy." Kagome mumbled with closed eyes, sending Inuyasha plummeting to the ground. Putting on a smile, she said "It's nice to meet you too Ryo."

Raising an eyebrow at Inuyasha's fallen form, Ryo looked to Iya for some explanation, who only shrugged. "They have an interesting relationship." Iya finally commented, making most of the group chuckle.

Moving on, Iya said "Next we have Kohaku, with Kirara on his shoulder. Kohaku is a half fire demon while Kirara is a neko demon."

Extending his hand, Ryo warmly said "Nice to meet the two of you."

Taking Ryo's hand and shaking it, Kohaku curtly said "It's nice to meet you too."

On Kohaku's shoulder, Kirara let out a small mew, seemingly saying hello as well. Walking on to the next person, Iya calmly said "This is Rin, Sesshomaru's ward. She is a half wolf demon."

Reaching out to take her hand, Ryo was stopped by an icy cold glare from Sesshomaru that seemed to say "Try and you die." Deciding to not kiss her hand, Ryo warmly smiled and said "It's nice to meet you, Rin."

"Nice to meet you too Ryo." she curtly replied.

Walking on over to the last of the group, Iya kindly said "This is Orihime. She's a bobcat mage that we met along the way."

Taking Orihime's hand, Ryo lightly kissed it, making Orihime smile. "It is very nice to meet you Orihime."

Giggling lightly, Orihime warmly said "And it's nice to meet you."

"Ryo, there is something you should know." Iya broke in, ruining Ryo's gaze at Orihime. Seeing he had his attention, Iya pushed on and said "These six half demons, other than Inuyasha, have all been attacked by the mages. They were humans not long ago."

Ryo's eyes instantly widened to the size of pie plates in surprise. "You mean the mages attacked each of them and transformed them!?"

"Yes, they did, and now we're rushing to try and stop the final part of the spell before we lose all five." Iya explained.

Clenching his fists tightly till he drew blood due that his claws pierced his own skin, Ryo lowly growled out "Damn them… It's not as if those bastards had caused enough pain already, but they had to take another six slaves!"

Looking to Iya with fierce determination, Ryo asked "You need to know their locations, right?"

Nodding, Iya replied "We do. If we can find them, then we might be able to stop this nightmare from coming about."

Lightly sighing, Ryo nodded and waved for the group to follow him. In a single file line, the group followed Ryo, with Iya leading and Sesshomaru behind him. Reaching the base of the rock formation, Ryo held out a hand to it and lowly chanted words that none of the group recognized.

After a moment, a blue shimmering portal opened, in which Ryo simply walked into. Iya followed without a word, along with the others, who were a touch curious to what would happen. On the other side of the portal, the group walked out, seeing now they were in some kind of cave that was lit by torches.

Leading the group onwards, Ryo finally came to a set of large rectangular objects that were covered by white sheets. In a simple motion, Ryo ripped the sheet off of one, revealing it to be a mirror.

Confused, Kagome politely asked "Excuse me Ryo, but what is the mirror for?"

Lightly chuckling, Ryo turned to her and replied "This is going to help me in finding the mages. It's a magical mirror that can locate anyone, anywhere."

"Oh…" Kagome remarked, somewhat shocked, along with the rest of the group.

Returning his focus to the mirror, Ryo placed his palms together and closed his eyes for a moment. Lowly, he began murmuring a chant, making the mirror glow to life with white energy radiating from it. Part of the group backed up, while most stayed in place.

After a moment, Ryo murmured the names of the seven mages, causing the mirror to lightly glow once more. Slowly, in three sections, the mirror revealed an image of the seven mages, with two in one side, four on the other, and the final in the middle.

Frowning while opening his eyes, Ryo muttered "They've split up. From what I can tell, Kenshin and Kurama are traveling together. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Ichimaru are together, which is an odd combo. The final one, Byakuya, is alone."

"Byakuya is none of our concern at the moment." Iya stated. "His lone slave has been with him for quite a long time."

Nodding, Ryo replied "Of course. The others seem to be stationary for now. It's almost like they're…"

"Waiting." Iya said, finishing Ryo's sentence. "Can you show us the landscape so we can figure out where the six are?"

"But of course." Ryo smugly replied. "After all, only I can figure out how to work these damned old mirrors."

Closing his eyes once more and clasping his palms together, Ryo began chanting once more, forcing the middle figure out of the mirror. The two remaining ones then pulled back, revealing the surrounding landscape and landmarks. The first on the left was revealed to be near a large lake with a big mountain in the background. The other on the right was revealed to be deep within a forest, near a group of large rocks.

"I recognize the area on the left. That's near the farthest border of the Eastern and Northern Lands." Iya commented. "It's a good ways off, at least a two week journey."

The group nodded and looked towards the other image. After a minute, Sesshomaru finally spoke up, saying "That is at the furthest border of the Southern and Eastern Lands. This Sesshomaru recognizes the rock formation that is there. Like the other location, it is nearly a two week journey."

"Two different directions…" Iya mumbled lowly to himself. Finally, he said "They're aware that we're looking for them, so they've split up."

"Indeed." Sesshomaru dryly remarked.

Heavily sighing, Iya glanced at the two images on the mirror and eyed both. "There is no way for us to attack both groups without running out of time. If we took out the smaller group, the other would have time to move. Plus, to make things worse, the mages are spread out wide enough to where it would take nearly a week or two before we could reach the other group. There is just no possible way to attack both groups as we are before time runs out."

The group was somewhat crestfallen by Iya's words, making Lilly, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Rin, and Kohaku look towards the ground with downcast faces. Their ears all dropped low with this news, knowing the worst was still to come. Tears began to form within Lilly's eyes, along with Kagome and Rin's.

Smelling the salt, Iya looked back at the six and warmly said "But I do have a plan."

Instantly, the six perked up a bit, they're ears straining to hear whatever he had to say. "This might be tricky to pull off, but I think we should all split up into two groups."

"Split up? Are you sure that's wise?" Miroku questioned, somewhat unsure about having to possibly leave Sango.

Lightly smiling, Iya began explaining. "We'd pair off into two groups. Each group will head towards the group of mages. I was thinking that we should do the following. We send Miroku, Sango, Rin, Kohaku, Shippou, Kirara, and Sesshomaru to face off with the group that is to the south. Meanwhile, myself, Inuyasha, Kagome, Ichigo, Lilly, and Orihime will go to the north to take down the two remaining mages."

"Why are you sending most of us south?" Sango asked, unsure of what Iya was thinking.

"Most of the mages are in the south." Iya explained. "Plus, the mages that attacked you are there. I've paired people up due to where the mages are and who attacked them. Remember, Kenshin and Kurama attacked Lilly and Kagome, thus I was sending them northward with us. The others are southward."

Understanding now, Sango nodded and grasped Miroku's hand. He took it gingerly and lightly squeezed it, assuring her he was there.

"Iya, this Sesshomaru will not take them with this Sesshomaru."

Growling with irritation, Iya calmed himself and said "Sesshomaru, they need to go with you. The mages are in the same place that you're going, so going together is not an option. Even you aren't a match for those four mages."

"This Sesshomaru needs no help. This Sesshomaru shall rid the world of the mage that attacked Rin."

"Damn it Sesshomaru, don't you realize you need our help!?" Inuyasha blasted out loud. "Not even you can take down all the mages you damn idiot!"

"Watch your tongue half breed." Sesshomaru icily remarked.

Moving between his two brothers, Iya fiercely growled and snarled out "You idiots, we don't have the time for this! We have two trips that will take two weeks each, and once there, we have to defeat the mages! This isn't the time to fight amongst one another!"

Turning a fierce look to Sesshomaru, Iya boldly said "Sesshomaru, you will go with the others to destroy the four mages. If I could, I would, but to take down Kenshin and Kurama, we'll need everyone for that mission too. I know you don't like it, but get over it!"

Glaring at Iya, Sesshomaru remained quiet and finally said "This Sesshomaru shall go to the four mages with them, but know this. I no longer do any favors for you brother."

"Whatever…" Iya growled out. Turing his gaze back to Inuyasha, Iya nodded, making his younger brother calm and relax a bit.

Returning his sight to Ryo, Iya kindly said "Thank you Ryo. With that information, we know where to go now."

Nodding in reply, Ryo glanced around carefully and whispered lowly "Do you have time to talk with me, alone?"

Looking to the group, who hadn't heard the question, Iya nodded and whispered back "I should. Let's get them outside first."

"Right." Ryo softly replied.

Making a few movements with his hands, Ryo created a new blue shimmering portal behind the group. "This portal will take you all back outside." he spoke up.

Most of the group nodded and walked through, with Ichigo noting Iya wasn't following. "You coming?" he gruffly asked Iya.

Softly smiling, Iya shook his head and said "I'll be out soon. Just keep the group here till I get back."

"Alright, I suppose, but you owe me!" Ichigo grumbled while walking into the portal.

Lightly chuckling, Iya returned his gaze to Ryo. Once the portal was closed, Ryo let out a heavy sigh and took a seat on a nearby rock. "You do realize the gamble you're taking by protecting those six, don't you?"

Taking a seat himself, Iya nodded and said "I know the risks."

"It's not like you to take such a large risk. Why don't you cut the six of them loose and take Ichigo, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha with you and kill the mages?" Ryo questioned.

Lightly sighing, Iya looked downwards and said "I swore to protect them all, and to put a stop to the mages."

"But they'll slow you down!" Ryo countered. "Time is of the essence Iya, and you don't have time to waste with them!"

"I know…" Iya remarked. "I know that they're not trained to be half demons. Even though three of them were excellent fighters as humans, another was a good archer, and the other two were not fighters at all, I know that they can do this. Their help is necessary to win."

Smacking his forehead with his hand, Ryo lowly cursed to himself and finally said "Iya, I know you feel honor bound to these people due to reasons, but think about it. How can they help you?"

"They're stronger than you think they are." Iya replied calmly. "Even though they've just become half demons, they've progressed rather quickly through their training. I would almost dare say they could defend themselves in battle now with their new skills."

Hearing the seriousness in Iya's voice, Ryo looked down and lightly sighed. "Iya, is this what you've decided? To no matter what take them with you and try to kill the mages?"

"It is Ryo. No matter what, I won't leave them. I swore to kill the mages, and I can't leave them behind now when this is the most crucial time." Iya confidently said.

Standing up, Ryo heavily sighed once more and said "Then that means I'm coming too I suppose."

"Huh?"

Smirking, Ryo replied "You heard me. I'm coming with you all. I can't very well let you send Sesshomaru out alone with four half demons, a fox kit, and a lower level neko demon, now can I? That would be signing his death warrant."

"Ryo…" Iya began, only to have Ryo hold his hand up. "It's alright. I'm coming on my own free will. I've helped you and Ichigo out for so long, but I've never once put my own life on the line to stop these mages. I suppose it's time I do my share to help out."

Warmly smiling, Iya offered his hand to Ryo, who looked at it for a moment and finally took hold of it and shook it. "Thank you Ryo." Iya softly said.

"Don't worry about it. Now then, I suppose we should go out and decide what to do, after I gather the things I'm taking with me."

"Right." Iya agreed.

--

Sitting outside with the others, Lilly laid down on her back onto a flat rock, enjoying the sunshine falling down onto her skin. She had heard from Sango that Kirara enjoyed laying in the sun lazily since she was a neko demon, mostly to just allow the sun to warm her bodies. Doing so now, she found that even though she was only a half neko demon, she did enjoy the sensation of laying in the sun and absorbing it's rays.

Walking towards Lilly's form laying on the rock, Iya warmly smiled. "_She is so beautiful... If only we weren't in a race to save everyone, I'd think of asking you to let me court you._"

Shaking his head lightly, he miserably mumbled in her mind "_Like she'd want a half demon like me. After all, she's really human, and she'd never want someone like me who is gone all the time._"

Hearing someone approaching, Lilly remained still and sniffed the air, finding it was filled with cinnamon and woods. Smiling inwardly, she deduced easily that it was Iya approaching her.

With only a few feet from him to the rock, Iya softly said "You look relaxed."

Cracking her eyes open and looking at him, Lilly softly smiled and sat up. "Yeah, I was just trying something Sango told me that Kirara liked. She told me that Kirara likes to sit in the sun, so I thought I'd try it out."

"I see. I've heard some nekos like to sun themselves." Iya remarked.

"It isn't bad. I did kind of enjoy it." Lilly replied with a small smile. Looking towards the rest of the group, she noted Ryo was near them. "What's going on?"

Lightly smirking while turning back to the group, Iya commented "Ryo has decided to join us."

"He has?" Lilly asked in shock. "I thought he always just pointed you in the direction and let you and Ichigo do the heavy work?"

Chuckling, Iya remarked "Usually he does, but he decided to help out this time."

Turning back to Lilly, he reached out a hand, which she took. Pulling her to her feet with a bit too much force, Iya felt her bump into him. He instantly lightly blushed from the close contact, much like Lilly. Putting it aside quickly, Iya turned and gently pulled her along towards the group while still clasping her hand in his own.

Lilly only blushed at the action, while was somewhat surprised, if not shocked. "_He's actually holding my hand!? I wonder what brought this on?_"

Forcing his own blush to hide, Iya continued to leisurely pull Lilly along. She quickly kept his pace and moved beside of him. Glancing at her through the corner of his eye, he contently sighed inwardly. "_If only I could pursue you Lilly, if only I could, I would try..._"

Reaching the group, he released her hand and moved beside of Ryo. "Everyone here?" he asked.

Getting a nod from Ichigo, Iya nodded in return and said "Now that everybody is here, I want to tell you what has been decided. Ryo has made the decision to accompany Sesshomaru's group in trying to reach the other four mages."

Sesshomaru lightly grunted at this and stoically said "This Sesshomaru needs no such help from this mage."

"Oh, come on Sesshomaru, I'm not that bad. Get over the freaking kimono incident!" Ryo irritably said.

Glaring towards Ryo, Sesshomaru nonchalantly replied "This Sesshomaru does not hold a grudge."

"The hell you don't!" Inuyasha cut in with a furious voice. "You're still pissed off that I took your left arm, and even more pissed off that I can use Tetsusaiga and you can't!"

"Inuyasha, don't provoke him now!" Kagome snapped.

Glaring towards Kagome, Inuyasha angrily snarled "Quit telling me what to do! What that bastard put me through is more than you'll ever know!"

Returning his attention to Sesshomaru, he added "You made my life a living hell, making me always hide and hope to never be found by you. And then to top it off, you wished to take the only other thing I owned that our father gave me away!"

"SIT BOY!"

With the words shouted into the air, Inuyasha instantly slammed face first into the ground with a yelp. Glaring at the fallen half demon, Kagome snarled "Just stay down there and shut up for once Inuyasha! We need everyone here to work together, so just shut up!"

Feeling the tension in the air, Iya heavily sighed and walked in between the two. "Kagome, Inuyasha, please, calm down. You two can argue once we're traveling, but for now, just leave it be."

Getting a small nod from Kagome, Iya accepted that as she would obey. He was not surprised one bit though when Inuyasha leapt up from the ground once the subduing spell wore off and went to go face to face with Kagome. Iya instead moved in between the two, with Inuyasha snarling at him with his fangs bared.

"MOVE IYA!" he roared.

Staring icily at his brother, Iya sternly said "No! Get a hold of yourself! This is not the time for this bickering! I know Sesshomaru caused some problems for you, and for that, he should be ashamed of himself."

Taking a calming breath, Iya weakly smiled and added "But he has changed Inuyasha, so let it go. Arguing about it with Kagome won't help right now. Our first priority at the moment should be saving the six right now. You still want to save your friends and Kagome, right?"

Turning a fierce glare from Kagome to a softer glance at his friends, Inuyasha stuffed his fists into his sleeves and mumbled "Yes…"

"Then let this anger go for now. Work it out later, alright?" Iya sternly remarked.

"Feh!" was the only reply while Inuyasha stormed off. He leapt onto a nearby rock that was within hearing range, but far enough away to where someone would have to go out of their way to bother him.

Heavily sighing at this, Iya calmly said "Now then, the plan is rather simple. We will split up into two groups. Sesshomaru, you will lead the second group, but please do try to be willing to listen to the others, alright?"

Sesshomaru only looked at Iya indifferently without a word, making Iya sigh once more. "I can only hope you at least listen to them a little. At any rate, on your team, you will be taking Ryo, Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, Rin, Kirara, and Shippou. The eight of you will venture to the furthest border of the Eastern and Southern Lands. There, you all will battle with the four mages that reside there. Remember, you must kill all four mages before the end of twenty-three days from now. If you don't succeed, each of the four half demons with you will transform into slaves of the four mages."

Looking downward and away, Iya hesitated for a moment before saying "You all should come with a plan just in case you do not make it. This is not saying to be prepared for defeat, but just in case you can't arrive or confront the mages in time, do be prepared with resolution. I don't wish to lose any of the four of you, but…"

Understanding what he was saying, Miroku weakly smiled at him and said "Don't worry, if it comes down to that, we'll find a way to keep us from falling into the mages' hands."

Sadly nodding in reply, Iya pushed aside his emotions and said "The other team shall be led by me. It will consist of Ichigo, Inuyasha, Kagome, Lilly, and Orihime. The six of us shall head to the farthest border of the Eastern and Northern Lands. There, we will face off with the remaining two mages."

Casting his eyes downwards, he sadly said "Unfortunately, time is more of an issue for us. Lilly was attacked a few days before the others, thus has less time. We only have twenty days before she will be taken as a slave to Kenshin, while Kagome has twenty-three till Kurama can claim her."

Glancing up at the two, Iya weakly added "We will stop them once we find them. Do beware of what may have to happen if we don't though."

Each nodded lightly, showing they were prepared. Inuyasha stared longingly towards Kagome upon Iya saying his words, but quickly replaced his look with a scowl when he noticed she glanced back at him.

"If everything goes as planned, we should be able to reach the mages in fourteen days, if not a few more. That leaves plenty of time to kill them off, I hope." Iya explained. "Once a group defeats their group of mages, or is unsuccessful, meet back here in the Western Lands at this place. We will regroup and discuss what happened. With any luck, we'll succeed in wiping out the mages."

"And if we're not so lucky?" Miroku asked cautiously.

Looking at the ground with a grim face, Iya replied "Then none of us may not return."

A deathly silence filled the group instantly. After a moment of the silence, Iya said with determination booming in his voice "But I swear, I will fight with everything in my being to save all of you. I will not stop till each of the mages are dead."

Seeing the determination and resolve shining in Iya's eyes, the group all nodded. Seeing it, Iya added "You all will survive, so long as I can help it. Have faith, we will defeat the mages, no matter what!"

"YEAH!" most of the group shouted with raised fists.


	25. Chapter 25: Move Out

**Hey gang! Well, this weekend wasn't too bad. Friday night, I went and watched my step brother graduate. It was cool and all, although it was cold. It didn't start till 8 in the evening, and it had sprinkled, plus the air was just cool. I only had a short sleeve shirt and jeans on, but I survived. Actually, I wasn't too bad off till the end, when the breeze picked up. On Saturday, my step brother had a graduation party. I saw a lot of people and didn't do much all day. I managed to survive, lol. Yesterday, not much else happened. I saw my grandfather, who was doing alright, which I'm thankful for. Other than that, nothing happened, so fun fun, other than I'm enjoying my three day weekend. My poor mate has to work today, but oh well, hehe.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten some more work done on this story, and a bit of planning done on **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Otherwise, not too much to report on this. I've not really wrote much this weekend, but oh well, lol.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Kattana: Yep, the gang has decided to beat the mages. Heh, true, I do kind of feel bad for the mages that will cross with Sesshomaru. After all, Ichimaru pissed Sesshomaru off on his first visit. Imagine a second confrontation, hehe. But true, he isn't going to show much leniency on any of the mages. Thanks for the review!**

**  
Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, I know, you didn't slam me, and I had a poor choice of words for what you said I suppose. You did a great job on giving me helpful pointers. There, that better? I hope it was, lol. I've seen worse actually, ones that were so much helpful as just slamming for real, but oh well, it happens sometimes. Yes, poor Inuyasha's face is getting flatter by the moment at the rate he keeps going. But yes, he has two conflicting sides. One to protect Kagome, and the other being his pride, I suppose. Heh, mushy stuff eh? It may come along. Never know, hehe. Thanks for the review, and I hope you liked the ones I gave you on your stories.**

**Well, that does it for me today. Thank you to all of you that sent me reviews. I really enjoyed reading them. They were helpful as always. And to any who wish to review, but think I'll bite your head off, no worries. I'm always kind in my replies, unless I'm hungry, then I bite heads off of people, lol. But seriously, if anyone has any kind of comments, opinions, or questions, I encourage you to review/PM. I'll do my best to answer that review/PM.**

**Anyways, I'm out. Enjoy your Memorial Day!**

**Chapter 25**

Upon the group deciding to part ways, the search for lunch began. After procuring some fish from the stream nearby, a fire was started and the fish were cooked to perfection, with only Sesshomaru opting not to eat.

With their stomachs full, the group realized that it was time to begin their quests. For the most part, Kagome, Sango, and Shippou were shedding tears over the situation.

"Sango, you're my best friend." Kagome softly declared with tears in her eyes.

Warmly smiling at Kagome with tears shimmering in her own eyes, Sango replied "And you're my best friend Kagome. Please try not to worry."

Letting out a weak mew from Sango's shoulder, Kirara leapt into Kagome's arms. Smiling, Kagome scratched her head and said "You take care too Kirara."

That said, the small neko leapt down to the ground and lightly rubbed up against Kagome's legs before moving back to beside of Sango.

Weakly smiling at Sango, Kagome said "Promise me that you'll make it back."

Nodding, Sango replied "I promise I will. I won't break my promise to you, but you have to do the same. Promise me you'll make it back too."

"I will, I swear it. We're best friends, and I'd be a lousy friend to go back on my word." Kagome remarked.

The two each lightly smiled at one another and let out a chuckle. In a simultaneous motion, the two hugged one another, each allowing their tears to fall onto the other.

"We'll meet again, I know it." Kagome softly whispered.

Sango only lightly nodded and whispered back "We will, I know it."

Separating, the two stared at one another's face, with each weakly smiling. Glancing at Inuyasha not far away, Sango lowly whispered "Try not to be too hard on Inuyasha."

Lightly blushing, Kagome nodded and softly said "Don't be too hard on Miroku either. After all, he's your mate now."

"Don't worry about him, I won't let anything happen to him." Sango confidently said with a smirk.

Hugging once more, the girls released each other. Moving over to Miroku, Kagome hugged him and whispered "Take good care of her Miroku. Please, both of you come back."

Releasing Kagome, Miroku looked her in the face and smiled softly. "We will return Kagome, don't worry. I'll do everything I can to protect her. You come back to us too, okay?"

"Okay." Kagome remarked with a small smile.

Glancing towards Inuyasha, Miroku whispered lowly to her "And try not to be mad at Inuyasha. You know how he is."

"Yeah…" she quietly mumbled. "I'll try."

Smiling at her once more, Miroku backed away, allowing Shippou to leap up into Kagome's arms. He was wailing loudly and clutched her chest tightly while tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Please don't leave me Kagome!" he wailed loudly while soaking her kimono top.

Feeling her heart break while hearing Shippou, she gently rubbed the top of his head and hugged him to her body. In a comforting voice, she warmly said "Don't worry Shippou, it won't be long. I'll return to you, I promise."

Easing up on his crying, Shippou looked up at her and weakly asked "You really mean it?"

"I do. I promise, me and Inuyasha will come back. For now though, you have to go with the others." Kagome soothingly said. "Be a big boy and listen well to them. I know you'll be safe. Can you do that for me?"

Wiping his eyes with his hands, Shippou lightly nodded and sniffled. "I will." he quietly remarked.

Softly smiling at him, Kagome hugged him to her chest once again and kissed his head. "I love you Shippou, and we will be back. I promise you, ok?"

"Ok…" he whispered back. "I love you too."

Handing him over to Sango, she lightly smiled and said "Please do take good care of him Sango."

"No need to worry Kagome, we'll protect him. Shippou is safe with us." Miroku remarked, making Kagome nod lightly.

Moving down to Kohaku, Kagome softly smiled and embraced the young man. "Be careful with the others Kohaku." Kagome quietly said to him.

Returning the hug, Kohaku replied "I shall Miss Kagome. You take care of yourself too."

Pulling back, Kagome smiled at him and said "Try not to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Do return Miss Kagome. Things wouldn't be the same without you." Kohaku remarked, earning a small smile from her.

"Be careful Kagome, and do return to us." Sango quietly said.

Smiling, Kagome nodded and replied "Don't worry, I'll be with Inuyasha, Iya, and Ichigo, so I'll be back. I know we'll succeed."

Once more smiling, she quietly said "Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye to you too Kagome." Sango mumbled back.

Those words said, Kagome walked away towards Rin. Lightly, she hugged the young woman. Pulling back, she said "Please return Rin."

"Don't worry Kagome, Lord Sesshomaru will protect me if I get into trouble." Rin cheerfully replied. Turning serious, she added "Take care of yourself too Kagome. I wish to see you again."

"We'll see one another again. Till then, stay safe." Kagome remarked. Hugging once more, Kagome moved onto to where Sesshomaru stood.

Sighing lightly, Kagome warmly smiled and said "Be careful Sesshomaru."

Silence was the only answer she received, with the stoic demon not uttering a word or giving her a glance. Sighing again, Kagome humbly added "I apologize for earlier over Inuyasha's behavior. Even though his words rang with truth, it was the wrong time for him to bring it up."

"The words of that hanyou do not concern this Sesshomaru."

Sighing again, Kagome nodded and softly said "Regardless, I wish you a safe return."

Walking away, Kagome didn't even hear the Lord of the Western Lands mumble "Return safely miko."

Moving to Ryo last, Kagome softly smiled. "I wish I had more time to get to know you, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"No, it can't my lady." Ryo remarked with a small smile. "Take care Lady Kagome, and do try to be easy on your future mate."

Blushing heavily at his words, Kagome stammered "He's not my future mate."

"That's not true by the looks you give one another. Then again, that fight did make it hard to see also. But I know you two will mate, one day. I only hope you two return so that you can." Ryo smartly said.

Still blushing deeply, Kagome looked away and said "Goodbye Ryo."

"Goodbye Lady Kagome. Till our next meeting."

With his words said, Kagome quickly rushed over towards where her group was to meet and sat down on a rock with her hands on her warm cheeks.

--

Once Kagome had finished up with Miroku and Sango, Inuyasha moved in and said "Keh, the five of you better return."

"Take care of Kagome." Sango sharply remarked.

"Feh, why should I?"

Glaring at Inuyasha, Sango lowly snarled "Quit being an asshole and take care of her! She cares deeply for you, so don't screw it up!"

Taken aback a bit by Sango's words, Inuyasha stuffed his fists into his sleeves and muttered "Feh!"

In a calm voice, Miroku said "Inuyasha, it's up to you to protect her. Do what you can, alright?"

"Feh, quit worrying." Inuyasha lowly mumbled. "I won't let anything happen to her, no matter what."

Satisfied, Miroku softened his features and extended his hand. "Take care Inuyasha and return to us."

Looking at Miroku's hand for a moment, Inuyasha finally pulled his own right hand out of his kimono sleeve and took Miroku's in his own. The two shook hands, making Inuyasha lightly smile. The smile quickly faded though, with Inuyasha pulling back his hand and stuffing it back into his sleeve.

"Just come back, you hear." he grumbled while walking away.

The group only lightly chuckled at this while the retreating figure of Inuyasha mumbled lowly in his mind "_Please, do come back. You're my pack, and should something happen to any of you, I'll avenge all of you._"

Returning his thoughts to what he was doing, he noted he was heading for Sesshomaru. The Lord of the Western Lands had his eyes trained on the distance, as if disinterested in everything else going on.

Nearing him, Inuyasha stopped with ten feet between the two of them. Glaring at his older brother, he felt rage deep within him welling up, seemingly rearing to be let go, but he pushed it to the back of his mind with all his might. Reigning in his emotions, Inuyasha felt his jaws were clenched shut.

With all of his might, he finally gruffly said "You'd better return from this trip Sesshomaru. We have unfinished business."

Turning his eyes to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru coolly said "This Sesshomaru will not be felled by the likes of those pitiful mages. Make sure that you, little brother, survive as well."

A bit shocked that Sesshomaru was even acknowledging him, Inuyasha cockily grinned and replied "I won't let those bastards kill me either."

Upon finishing, Inuyasha quietly padded away towards where Kagome was, but decided to move to a high rock nearby instead. He completely ignored Ryo, which made the dog demon frown but quickly shrug it off.

--

Watching Ichigo, Orihime, and Lilly say their goodbyes to the others, Iya came over to part of the humans turned half demon himself. Warmly smiling to him, he calmly said "I know you all will succeed in your mission."

Glancing towards Sesshomaru, Iya added "Do try to follow Sesshomaru's orders, so long as they're within reason."

"We will." Miroku replied. Throwing a glance towards the two figures near the rocks, he added "Take care of them Iya."

Nodding, Iya replied "I swear I will. We'll make it back, no matter what."

"Please do. I would hate to lose any of you." Sango quietly said. Lightly smiling, she lowly said "Take care of Lilly."

Looking inquisitively at Sango, Iya was about to ask why she asked when she answered him with a smirk. "You know she cares for you."

Lightly blushing, Iya pushed it away and softly said "I'll take care of her, I promise."

Regaining his composure, he added "Take care, all of you. We'll see one another again, I know it."

"As do we." Miroku replied.

Nodding, Iya walked off quietly to find Rin. Finding her, he smiled softly and asked "You know Sesshomaru won't allow the mages to take you, right?"

"Of course." Rin happily chirped. "Lord Sesshomaru has always been there to protect me. I know we'll get those mages."

Lightly patting her shoulder, he smiled and said "Take care Rin."

"You too Iya." she warmly replied. Glancing around, she leaned in close to him and whispered "I think Lilly has a crush on you."

Iya's cheeks instantly heated lightly upon Rin's words, but he pushed his emotions aside and smiled. "Thank you." he quietly mumbled.

Walking away from Rin, he found Sesshomaru quickly. He was standing in the same spot, staring off into the distance like he had been when Inuyasha and Kagome talked with him.

Getting a few feet from him, Iya lightly smiled. "Please take care of them, brother. I wish to see all of them again, along with you."

Throwing a glance towards Iya, Sesshomaru stoically replied "This Sesshomaru shall not be bested by the mages. That much is for certain. This Sesshomaru shall return this group."

Pausing for a moment, he then added "This Sesshomaru expects the same from you, brother. Return with them."

Letting a small smile escape, Iya lightly said "I will Sesshomaru. Farewell, and do try not to be too hard on them."

Sesshomaru only let out a grunt and moved towards the group he was to lead. Walking off, Iya found Ryo and smirked.

"Try not to piss him off too much." Iya sarcastically said.

Chuckling, Ryo replied "Don't worry too much, I'll behave."

Turning serious, he added "Do be careful Iya. The two mages you're going after are said to be two of the strongest. It's been said that if something ever happened to Byakuya, those two would become the driving force of the group."

"I know Kenshin is powerful. He's demonstrated that on numerous occasions, not to mention shown that he's not even trying yet." Iya remarked. "I think Ichigo will be ready though. If he can unlock the power of Zangetsu's next form, he should be a good match for Kenshin at long last. As for Kurama, I only hope Inuyasha knows what he is getting into. I'll try and explain more of it to him, and to all of them so they have a clue."

Lightly sighing, Iya slowly said "I'm sorry to get you involved in this."

"Heh, it's not you who got me involved!" Ryo declared. "It's my choice, and I will fight to save those half demons. They deserve to live free lives, not be cooped up and turned into play things for the mages."

Smiling lightly at this, Iya nodded and put a hand on Ryo's shoulder, saying "Do return though. I'd hate to have to bury a friend."

"Like Sesshomaru would carry me back."

Both let out a chuckle at the comment before each turned more serious. The two then hugged one another and finally released each other.

"Safe journey Iya. Return to us." Ryo calmly said.

Nodding, Iya replied "Safe journey to you too Ryo. Make sure you come back."

Turning away from one another, the two each moved towards the respected groups. Once each reached their groups, the two groups faced one another one last time. Each said their goodbyes and turned away from the other, beginning their journeys.

--

Quietly sneaking up on a deer, Inuyasha quietly crept forward. Ichigo was off to his side nearby, flanking him to make sure the deer didn't escape.

Finally closing into where he could reach the deer, Inuyasha sprang forward a mad dash and slashed the deer across the neck before it could react. Felling the deer, he quickly made a death blow by crushing it's neck, easily killing it.

Smirking at his accomplishment, Inuyasha turned to Ichigo. "See, that's how it's done!" he smugly remarked.

Scowling like always, Ichigo shrugged and said "If that's how it's done, then you don't mind cleaning it up yourself."

"The hell I will!" Inuyasha growled out.

Smirking at the reaction, Ichigo calmly replied "Let's get this thing cleaned up and ready to take back. I'm starving. Besides, I have training to work on."

"Feh, it's nothing but training for you. What the hell are you training for anyways!?" Inuyasha bluntly questioned.

Turning a light glare towards him, Ichigo grumbled out "To kill Kenshin."

"Like training will ever help you do that."

"Shut your mouth!" Ichigo angrily spat. "You don't know how powerful he is! I know! I fought him and lost, horribly! Once I finish my training though, that bastard will fall at my hands!"

Taken aback by Ichigo's declarations, Inuyasha stuffed his bloody claws into his kimono sleeves and turned his head away, muttering "Feh."

--

After two hours, the two hunters finally returned with the deer. A fire with a spit over it was set up, seemingly waiting for the pair.

"What took you two so long?" Orihime questioned. "It normally only takes an hour or so to usually find something to eat and get it ready to cook."

"Shut up Orihime and be thankful that we brought anything back." Ichigo growled out, earning him a light giggle from Orihime. "What's so funny?"

Smiling at him, she replied "Just you."

"Whatever…" he grumbled while walking off towards the nearby stream.

Watching him walk away, Orihime lightly sighed and watched his retreating figure. Deciding to return her gaze back to what she had been watching, she looked over to see Iya still training Lilly and Kagome. They were each practicing with their swords, with Lilly learning defensive moves and Kagome trying to learn more about pouring more of one of her two powers into her sword.

"Very good Kagome, that's the way you should do it if you want to pour more miko energy into Hikari." Iya congratulated.

Smiling back at him, Kagome returned her line of sight to the pink glowing sword before her. It had taken a good bit of effort for her to learn how to equalize the power of her miko and demonic powers without purifying herself, but with Hikari now hers, she managed to do it much easier. The sword worked like an outlet to her powers, making it much easier for her to unleash them without having to balance her two powers. She could now access her miko and demonic powers, but still she had to be careful according to Iya to not get too carried away, just in case Hikari was ever knocked away from her. If it was, without an outlet, that power could kill her, pending on which power she was using heavily.

Returning the blade to it's normal dull grey metal form, she let out a bit of a sigh of relief and watched the sword revert from it's halberd form, that looked much like Tetsusaiga and Ketsaiga, but with a bit of pink fur at the guard, to it's normal state. Hikari was very different from Tetsusaiga and Ketsaiga in many respects though. Unlike the other two, Hikari didn't need her demonic energy to transform. It could use either her miko or demonic power to do that. Still, Iya recommended not using it while she was human, just to make sure she didn't harm herself. Also, even without being transformed, she could use it's powers. True that the power omitted was weaker, but still, if she had to, she could use it's weaker form to fight off an enemy.

Taking a deep breath, she sheathed the sword and smiled at Iya once more. "Thank you for the help Iya."

"Not a problem." Iya replied with a smile himself. "Just keep practicing. In no time, you'll have the demonic energy of your sword under your control."

Nodding lightly, Kagome softly smiled and responded with "Thanks."

Noting that the sun had done gone down and that they would need sleep soon, Iya kindly called out "Lilly."

Stopping her practice, Lilly turned her attention to Iya. Seeing he had it, he smiled and said "Why don't you and Kagome take Orihime and get cleaned up? There is a hot spring nearby, from what I can smell."

"Sure, that sounds great!" Lilly warmly said. Sheathing Kimi, she ran to Kagome, who smiled and ran with her to where Orihime sat.

After a moment of talking, the three grabbed Kagome's nearby bag and ran off, following the scent of the hot spring.

Taking up a seat by the fire, Iya noted Inuyasha was resting up against a nearby tree with his feet folded up under him and his hands in his sleeves and Tetsusaiga on his shoulder.

"So, what took so long?" Iya asked.

Scowling off in the direction that Ichigo had walked off in, Inuyasha grumbled "That bastard got pissed off at me and barely helped me skin that deer."

Frowning, Iya asked "What did you say to him?"

"Feh, like I would know. And why the hell did you let those girls go off alone!? What if they get attacked?"

Heavily sighing, Iya replied "They'll be fine. Orihime is with them anyways. She can protect them if she has to, but I figure Lilly and Kagome are more than capable of defending themselves now."

"Keh, doubtful."

Sighing, Iya looked off towards the stream. After a few minutes of silence, Iya asked "Are you going to apologize to Kagome?"

"Apologize!?" Inuyasha asked in shock. "WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I APOLOGIZE!?"

Heavily sighing, Iya replied "For what you did earlier today, and for yesterday too. You know, throwing Shippou up against that tree and arguing with Sesshomaru today for no reason."

"Why should I apologize!? That kit wouldn't shut up and Sesshomaru had it coming." Inuyasha irritably replied.

"Inuyasha, did it ever occur to you that you might hurt Shippou by throwing him like that?" Iya asked patiently.

Thinking for a moment, Inuyasha fired back "No, I knew that the kit wouldn't get hurt. I didn't throw him too hard, just enough to knock some sense into him."

"So you didn't really harm him?"

"I said I only threw him hard enough to knock some sense into him! It's not like I was trying to kill him!" Inuyasha lashed out.

Satisfied with the answer, Iya asked "Why didn't you tell Kagome that you weren't trying to really harm Shippou then?"

Stuffing his fists into his sleeves, he lowly growled out "She wouldn't listen."

"I think you give her too little a credit Inuyasha. She would have listened to you." Iya calmly remarked.

"Feh, I doubt it."

Lightly chuckling at his brother, Iya decided to push and asked "Why did you start that argument with Sesshomaru yesterday?"

"That asshole has done so much to me in the past, and he goes on about he doesn't hold grudges!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "He held a grudge over me inheriting Tetsusaiga forever. He's always claimed it was his when in reality father left it to me, not him!"

Nodding, Iya replied "Sesshomaru was hurt that father gave you Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha. In a way, I suppose I can relate. I was given Ketsaiga long before you inherited Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru was a bit jealous of that, but he didn't bring it up to father. He felt father passed over him again when you received Tetsusaiga and gave him Tenseiga. To him then, it was useless, but in reality, the sword is probably the strongest of the three. It can bring back to life a person, while the other two are used for to destroy things."

"Keh, he doesn't care. That's why I said what I said yesterday."

Frowning lightly, Iya asked "Did you ever stop to think though that it was the wrong time to bring it up?"

"No."

"It kind of was the wrong time Inuyasha." Iya remarked. "After all, we were trying to figure out what to do about the current problem, while you dragged up the past. Kagome I think wanted you to let it go."

Glaring at Iya, Inuyasha snarled "I can never let go of what that jackass did to me! He tried to kill me, used a demon to look like my dead mother, and nearly killed Kagome and my other friends! For those things, I can never forgive Sesshomaru!"

Lightly sighing, Iya replied "Those are in the past though, and you could have brought them up later when it was you and Sesshomaru alone. Right now, we need to keep all our allies together. That's why Kagome got angry at you for going overboard yesterday."

Pondering for a moment on Iya's words, Inuyasha finally let out a heavy sigh and stood up. Noting he was walking off towards the hot springs, Iya called out "Don't go peeking on them."

"Feh, as if I'm like that damn monk!"

Smirking at the retreating form, Iya returned his gaze to dinner.

--

Reaching the hot springs quickly enough, the girls stripped out of their clothing, each laying them off to the side. Upon doing so, the three wadded into the steaming hot water, with each letting out a contented sighs of relief upon sliding into the water till it reached their shoulders. With each resting up against a rock within the water, the three closed their eyes and enjoyed the warm sensation.

Finally breaking the silence, Lilly asked "Kagome?"

"Yeah Lilly?" Kagome answered.

Biting her lip, Lilly finally asked "Are you and Inuyasha mad still at one another?"

Sighing a bit and looking up at the sky, Kagome slowly replied "I'm a bit mad at him still yet…"

Looking back down at the water, she added "He can be such a jerk sometimes and so inconsiderate of other people's feelings. He could have seriously hurt Shippou yesterday, and bringing up all that stuff today about Sesshomaru wasn't going to help us convince Sesshomaru to help."

"I don't think he was trying to hurt Shippou." Lilly wistfully remarked. "It looked more like he was just throwing him hard enough to get him away from him, not hurt him."

Pondering on Lilly's words, Kagome closed her eyes and replayed the images of Inuyasha tossing Shippou at the tree. In her mind, she saw Shippou's frightened look, but when he hit the tree, it wasn't a hard hit, but a soft blow.

"_How could I have missed that!? Inuyasha wasn't trying to really hurt him. Instead of listening to him, I blew up and 'sat' him so many times._"

Reopening her eyes, Kagome lightly sighed and mumbled "I think you're right… He didn't really try to hurt Shippou."

Lightly smiling, Orihime added in "And that thing with Sesshomaru yesterday, I bet that's just due that he felt slighted by Sesshomaru saying he held no grudges. You know he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize this mission to save everyone."

"I guess…" Kagome muttered. Leaning back her head till it rested against a rock, she heavily sighed. "Inuyasha…"

Standing up, Lilly waded over to Kagome and put a warm hand on her shoulder, making Kagome open her eyes. Lightly smiling at her, Lilly asked "Would you like some time to think?"

"Yes, if you guys don't mind."

Nodding, Lilly lightly said "We don't. Just don't take too long, ok?"

"Right."

Nodding at Kagome, the two girls slowly waded towards the end where their clothes and towels laid. Getting out of the water, steam rose up from their skin from where the water still was. Toweling off, both redressed and smirked at one another before walking off towards camp.

--

With light steps, Inuyasha continued to track the three girls trail. They had headed for the hot spring, which wasn't hard to find. The smell of sulfur itself was easy to follow, but he was trying to keep from being detected.

Stopping suddenly, his ears swiveled when he heard two voices. Taking in their scents, he determined both where Lilly and Orihime. Masking his own scent, he leapt into the trees to hide. Soon enough, the two passed while chatting busily amongst themselves. Watching them while they walked away, he swore he noticed Lilly have a smirk while glancing back towards where he sat in the tree, but he ignored it.

With the two gone finally, he cautiously leapt from tree to tree towards the hot springs. He quickly arrived with the vision of the hot springs coming into sight, but realized instantly that Kagome was still in it. Cheeks reddening, he turned his back to the hot spring and sat down in the branch of a tree.

Sniffing the air, he inhaled Kagome's scent of vanilla and cherry blossoms. Sighing lightly, he closed his eyes and began concentrating heavily on her scent. It was her scent that always helped him calm down at times. He had admitted to her once when he became human in front of her the first time that he actually enjoyed her scent. Since then, he kept that information private, but still, he couldn't help but remember her reaction to his words. She had been surprised, especially since he had told her numerous times he couldn't stand her scent.

"_Feh, I was such a fool. I told her I hated her scent, but the truth was, I came to love that lovely scent of vanilla and cherry blossoms. Kikyo never smelled like that. She always had a strange scent about her, one of fresh cut wild flowers, but nothing I craved constantly._"

Lightly chuckling in his mind, he remembered comparing the two scents before. "_I always liked flowers, but Kikyo's scent never done a thing to me like Kagome's has. Kagome's scent always grabs my attention, and it seems to soothe and calm me, no matter what mood I'm in._"

Sighing softly, he opened his eyes and swiveled his ears towards the hot spring, finding that he heard the sound of sloshing water. Sniffing the air once more, he found her enticing scent once more and closed his eyes, seemingly focusing alone on it.

"_She must be about done._"

Continuing to rest against the tree, he continued his listening in her direction. Finally, he heard her steps walking towards him. When she was not far, about ten feet away, he heard her stop and inhale the air.

Looking up towards one of the trees, Kagome lightly smiled and softly said "Inuyasha, I know you're up there."

Hearing his name, Inuyasha leapt out of the tree and landed ten feet away. Looking at her, he noted how her damp hair clung to her neck, and how breathtaking she looked just standing there. Grabbing hold of his mind, he softly smiled at her.

Staring at him with a puzzled look, she asked "Why are you here Inuyasha?"

Glancing down at the ground, he bit his lower lip. "_Damn pride... I want to apologize, but I can't..._"

Noting his look, she softly sighed and walked towards him. Reaching him, she embraced him, shocking him completely. Looking down, he saw her laying her head on his chest with closed eyes.

"Kagome?"

"I'm not mad anymore, and I'm sorry." she apologized lowly, somewhat making Inuyasha glance at her in shock. "I should have realized that you weren't trying to hurt Shippou, and that you were just annoyed by Sesshomaru's comment."

Feeling bad for her having to apologize, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, allowing each to inhale one another's scents. After a moment, he finally said "Kagome, I shouldn't have done that to Shippou. The kit was just annoying me and to get him to stop bugging me, I threw him."

Pulling back so he could look into her dark honey colored orbs, he hesitated for a moment but finally said "It was my fault. I didn't think I really hurt him though…"

Putting a finger to his lips, Kagome softly smiled and replied "It's alright Inuyasha. I thought back on what happened and realized he wasn't that hurt, or hurt at all. Probably more shocked than anything. It's alright."

Removing her finger carefully with a free hand, he quietly mumbled "And about Sesshomaru… I should have let it be."

Knowing how hard it was for him to say that, Kagome laid her head on his chest and lightly mumbled "It's alright. I'm sorry for treating you so roughly."

Placing his head on top of hers, he sighed. "_Kagome..._"

The two stood in the pale moonlight holding one another for a few more minutes before separating. Each had blush on their faces, but tried to push it away. Smiling at Inuyasha, Kagome took him by the hand and began pulling him back towards camp.

Walking together in silence, the pair walked hand in hand towards the camp, each showing a light blush staining their cheeks.

--

The group had been traveling since leaving Iya's group nonstop. It was now dark, and Sesshomaru had yet to show signs of planning on stopping. Miroku had first asked to stop, but Sesshomaru had ignored him. Sango asked next, but again the same reaction was given. Kohaku had remained quiet, although he was tired as well. Ryo had next asked, out of concern for the half demons, only to get a death glare from Sesshomaru, making him quiet himself.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm getting tired, can we stop for the night?" Rin asked softly.

Immediately, Sesshomaru's pace slowed to a stop, with most of the group in complete shock. Watching Sesshomaru turn to them, almost the entire group all fell to the ground out of exhaustion, with the half demons panting heavily.

"We shall make camp for tonight and move on tomorrow." Sesshomaru informed. Turning his gaze to Rin, who was not out of breath, he softly said "Rin…"

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked tentatively.

Motioning away from the group, he said "Come."

Acknowledging him with a nod, Rin followed him into the woods, leaving the group behind to rest.

"Damn that Sesshomaru, he'll run you guys to death." Ryo grumbled lowly. "Why the hell Iya let him lead I'll never know!"

Panting lightly, Miroku took calming breaths and replied "I don't know. I figure due that Iya thought he could get the job done."

"He might be able to, but he'll kill the four of you at the same time!" Ryo snarled with passion behind his words. "I should kick his ass for letting this happen!"

"It's alright." Kohaku mumbled between pants. Calming, he added "I'm used to Lord Sesshomaru's treatment. He means well by making us run for so long."

Smirking, Miroku slyly said "At least Rin can get us breaks. Note anything she asks for, he does it."

"She's lucky he listens to her." Sango remarked. "If not for her, we'd have passed out long before we stopped."

The entire group heavily sighed at this, excluding Shippou, who had fallen asleep in Sango's arms. Gently, she laid him on the ground in a blanket Kagome had given for him.

Glaring off in the direction of where Sesshomaru had walked off, Ryo roared loudly "THIS SUCKS!"


	26. Chapter 26: A Kaguya's Fate, Pt 1

**Hey everybody! (/Hears someone say "Hi Doctor Nick!"\) Strange… Anyways, not much new in my personal life, other than I'm getting anxious about the oncoming hay season. I know, that sounds strange, lol. I enjoy working in it actually. Just the opportunity to go out and sit on the tractor really relaxes me. It's just something that has always calmed me down. Don't know why, but it does, lol. Anyways, I'm getting anxious about it due that it's so close, but our weather is so awful currently that we can't start. Ack, if ever I wanted some pretty weather, now is the time.**

**Writing wise, I'm still doing a good bit of work on this story, along with my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. I've come up with a few story ideas for when I finish the two, but I'll probably begin work on my one-shots first. Lol, they've been sitting back and waiting forever, although I may skip that and just go straight into my other ideas since my one-shots tend to get passed over always. Just depends on how I feel I suppose.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Kattana: Lol, yes, I'm sure the others are extremely happy that Rin made Sesshomaru take a break at long last. Heh, I suppose she could have just sat down, but who knows what Sesshomaru would have said. Probably nothing, lol. Hmm, Ryo and Sesshomaru in a sparring match. I'm sure that might not go over so well, with Sesshomaru disliking Ryo seemingly, lol. Yep, Kagome and Inuyasha made up once more. They're all happy and so on, hehe. True, Iya may force Inuyasha to speak his mind to Kagome, only this time hopefully there wouldn't be any interruptions, lol. Yes, dumb mages for ruining their moments together, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yes, a mushy koi chapter, lol. Very Kawaii, lol. And thanks. I'm glad you liked my recent reviews. Heh, I'm coming with the updates as fast as I can. I would do 2 a week, but I'm pressed on the amount of chapters I have. Till I feel I have enough chapters to post, I'll probably keep this odd schedule of one chapter one week, 2 another. Heh, what is a mage, eh? Well, a mage is a person has the ability to cast magical spells. These mages though, they're not only capable of spells, but are rather good fighters as well. But yes, a youkai witch or wizard is pretty much the best answer. And I did mention back in Chapter 7 that they are demonic mages, hence it's known they're demons, at the least. As for Byakuya, couldn't you tell from my description of him that he's not the same as Naraku's? After all, the one Naraku has wouldn't be the leader of a group of mages, hehe. He was serving Naraku instead, not causing Naraku to fear himself and his companions. Plus, the looks are different. I believe I described how Byakuya (the mage) looked back in Chapter 7 as well. In fact, I gave a description of each of the 7 remaining mages in that chapter. But to answer your question, yes, Byakuya the mage is not the same as Naraku's Byakuya. I hope that explained it out for you. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thanks to both of you for your continuous support and feedback. I truly appreciate it. I always enjoy getting some kind of feedback on my stories, just to know if I'm doing a decent job or not. It's sort of hard to gauge how I'm doing when I get no reviews, lol. I guess it's just an insecurity that I have, making me wonder if people even think my story is decent, lol. At any rate, I really appreciate the feedback the two of you leave me. So, once again, I'll say thank you.**

**Btw, if anyone has comments, questions, or opinions, I do encourage you to write them down into a review, or to PM me. I'm more than happy to answer them, so feel free to send them in. Honestly, I won't bite, too hard, according to my mate, lol.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. I hope you all like this chapter and have a good weekend. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 26**

For two days, the group Iya was in charge of leading had continued onwards towards the farthest border of the Northern and Eastern Lands. The group had made excellent time thus far, with few stops throughout the day. They would rise up at dawn and begin traveling till noon, at which time they would stop for a quick lunch. Upon finishing and resting for an hour, the group would continue on till late evening with only an hour till dark. The group would then stop for the night and begin training, with mostly Iya, Inuyasha, and Orihime working with Lilly and Kagome while Ichigo went off to train on his own. Afterwards, Iya and Inuyasha normally went and hunted down something to eat while the girls found some place to clean up, whether it be a hot spring or river. Upon their return, they would get a fire going, which would be roaring time Iya and Inuyasha returned. Dinner would be cooked and served, at which time usually Ichigo returned, normally sporting several wounds. After dinner was over, the group normally went to sleep, with exception of Orihime who pleaded with Ichigo to let her heal his wounds. He always gave into her, but would argue for a while before he would let her. Once the group was bedded down for the night, Iya, Inuyasha, and Ichigo kept themselves half awake to make sure the group was safe from any wandering demons.

It was the third day since the two groups had split now, with Iya leading them onwards. They had a day to go till they would finally reach the Northern Lands, but still it was a ways till they would reach the border of the Northern and Eastern Lands. Once at the border, the group would follow it northeast till they came to where the mages were.

Running along with the group near him, Iya glanced upwards and saw that the sun was nearing the center of the sky. Deciding it was close enough to the time when they stopped to rest, he slowed his run and finally came to a stop with the rest of the group following his lead.

Noting Kagome and Lilly were not panting, Iya inwardly smiled. The two had been through tough physical training since leaving the rest of the group, thus they had built up their stamina. Each were now learning how to conserve their strength while running, thus they weren't overexerting themselves and wouldn't be worn out after running for hours on end.

Turning to Ichigo, he asked "Are you going to get lunch?"

Scowling, the quarter bobcat remarked "I did it last night…"

"No, that was me, jackass!" Inuyasha snapped.

Scratching his chin, Ichigo finally replied "I did it yesterday at lunch."

"That was actually me and Kagome." Lilly informed.

Seeing he was going to have to do the work anyways, Ichigo sighed with resignation and grumbled "Fine, I'll go hunt down lunch…"

Watching his friend stalk off towards the woods, Iya softly smirked and began gathering up dry wood. Finding enough kindling to start the fire, Iya stacked it up into the fire pit Lilly had built for him. Walking off to find enough wood to cook lunch, Iya soon found a small amount of wood that would do for a fire. Bringing it back, he set it down near the already crackling fire that Kagome had lit for him.

A few nights before, she had shown him some kind of strange device that could ignite a fire much easier than using two stones and making sparks. Guessing she had done the same, Iya sat down on the ground near the fire and slowly fed it wood he had found.

Finishing up, he moved to where Lilly sat. Seeing she was staring at the fire, he smiled with amusement to see the flames dancing in her emerald eyes. Taking a seat beside of her, he laid back onto his back and glanced up at the sky.

Noting his posture, Lilly inwardly smiled and asked "What are you thinking about?"

"Just staring at the clouds." Iya remarked evenly. "_Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed watching clouds. Heh, even while I was away all these years, I still watched the clouds as something to pass the time. I guess I'll never out grow this._"

Lightly giggling at Iya, Lilly leaned back and joined him. "Is this something you do often?"

"Every once and a while. When I needed to pass the time, I'd stop and just stare up at the clouds for a while. It entertained me, and kept me busy till it was time to do whatever I was waiting for." Iya explained.

Pondering his words, she softly replied "You must have been so lonely all those years."

"I suppose I was, but it didn't bother me too much…" he lightly said.

Nodding, Lilly returned to gazing up at the sky and inhaled Iya's scent. "_His scent is so intoxicating. It's like I can never get enough of it._"

Feeling her cheeks heat up, Lilly dismissed the thoughts from her mind quickly and focused on the other scents in the air. Finding a new one, she frowned and pondered on what it was.

"Iya, do you smell that new scent?" she questioned.

Inhaling the air around him, Iya identified almost every scent but one. This one wasn't a thing, but a person he believed. At the rate the scent was growing stronger, Iya determined quickly that whoever it was he smelled was approaching their group quickly.

Getting up and taking up a defensive stance, Iya saw Inuyasha was on alert too. Orihime as well noticed what was going on, and so did Kagome.

All five took up defensive stances when suddenly Ichigo reappeared from the woods and came to a skidding stop beside of Iya.

"Sorry I didn't bring back lunch, but whoever it is that's coming is moving this way quickly!" he growled out.

Tossing a quick nod, the group waited for the person to arrive. They didn't have to wait long, for within a few moments, a figure came flying through the air and landed gracefully on one knee ten feet away from the group.

Eyeing the figure, they saw he had long silver hair, with his bangs on the right side of his face tied up in a small ponytail with a red band and another hanging off the back left side of his head that was tucked behind his ear that also had a red band. The remainder of his hair was free and came down to just below his shoulders. His eyes were aqua colored and hid calmness, yet coldness behind them. Above his elegant eyebrows were two red demon markings that were simple dots. His face as rather fair looking, for it was without a blemish at all on his creamy white skin. On his chest, a small crest mark that had wavy designs that formed a triangle was present. The clothing he wore was a simple grey tunic with long flowing sleeves that hid his hands and had a ying-yang sign on the lower part of it, a thick purple robe with a knot on his back was used as a belt, and he wore simple blank pants with bandage wrappings around his lower calves. On his feet were black shoe like sandals.

Standing up, the figure eyed the group over before elegantly asking "I take it you with the black hair and black kimono are Iya Taisho?"

"What of it if I am?" Iya cordially questioned.

Softly smirking, the man replied "I am here to take back the two slaves for my Masters Kenshin and Kurama."

Bristling up instantly, Ichigo snarled "Those bastards aren't getting these girls back! They're not theirs!"

In a stoic, calm voice, the man softly said "You are to hand them over immediately, and then I am to kill you and the others. If you comply, then I will make it fast and painless for all of you."

"You don't know me well enough to think I'll allow you to kill me." Iya remarked dryly.

Sighing, the young man replied "I see. I didn't think you would die quietly."

"Who the hell are you anyways!?" Inuyasha barked out.

Lightly smirking, the young man simply said "My name is Kimimaro of the Kaguya Clan."

"Kaguya!?" Iya asked in shock.

Noting his shock, Lilly glanced towards Iya and asked "Do you know him?"

"No, but I know of that clan." Iya commented. Staring at Kimimaro, he softly said "His clan is all but wiped out. The Kaguya are a special type of demon known as bone demons."

"Bone demons?" Kagome questioned.

Nodding, Iya replied "Yes, bone demons, who are a very unique type of demon. Their own bones can become weapons. I'm not talking about like how Sango and Kohaku's clan made weapons, but I speak of literally pushing their bones out of their bodies and using them as a weapon."

"Feh, then this guy shouldn't be so hard to beat." Inuyasha boasted.

"I wouldn't count on it." Iya warned. "Their clan was extremely powerful, and very well feared for good reasons."

Closing his eyes, he finally reopened them and sadly said "And their downfall was of their own making. Their clan had shrunk considerably about a hundred and fifty years ago to only a hundred or so. Even though their clan was small, they were well feared. The Kaguya Clan was a race of warriors, who were their happiest in battle."

Pausing for a moment, Iya finally continued. "They lived within the Southern Lands under the rule of the Southern Lord. For the most part, the Kaguya stayed out of his way and remained among themselves. Back then, the Lord of the Southern Lands, a powerful water elemental demon known by the name of Aikamaru, was trying to expand his territory. He had clashed with Sesshomaru once I had heard, but submitted to him due that he lost a fight with him. At any rate, Aikamaru was interested in increasing his lands power, so he scoured for ways to increase his resources. He found out soon enough that the homeland of the Kaguya was very fertile for raising crops. With that in mind, Aikamaru commanded the Kaguya to leave their homeland."

"The Kaguya didn't take that well I'd have to guess." Lilly stated.

Nodding, Iya replied "The Kaguya were infuriated at the command and ignored it. Lord Aikamaru grew furious that they ignored him and sent a small army of demons to push them off. None of the army survived the Kaguya's wrath. Incited to rebel against Lord Aikamaru, the Kaguya countered by marching on the Southern Keep. They took everyone, down to every last man, woman, and child on this mission. Their plan was to kill the Southern Lord for his foolishness."

Quieting for a moment, Iya sadly said "Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as they had planned. They were within sight of the Southern Keep when they encountered the Southern Lord himself. All of them attacked him, only to be killed by him. In the end, the bloodshed was great, and the Southern Lord killed all but five of the Kaguya Clan."

Hearing these words, Kagome, Lilly, Inuyasha, and Orihime lightly gasped in shock, with women mostly looking towards Kimimaro with sadness shimmering in their eyes. "It wasn't over though." Iya broken in.

After a long pause, he added "The Kaguya survivors were two healthy men and women, along with one young child. The Southern Lord had no interest in the child, so he banished him from the Southern Lands. To this day, he has yet to be seen."

Kimimaro's expression lightly changed upon these words, one of a smug look. Ignoring it, Iya continued on. "The four remaining Kaguya were taken into the Southern Keep. There, they were paired off, with one man and one woman put together in a cell each. The objective to this was to force the pairs to copulate and create a child each. The children would then be taken when they were old enough to raise up as bodyguards for the Southern Lord."

"That bastard…" Inuyasha snarled lowly.

With a twinge of sadness, Iya said "It got worse. Eventually, one of the pair conceived. Prior to this, they had mated, but upon finding out they were expecting a child, the two committed suicide, effectively stopping the plan."

Kagome put her hands over her mouth to stifle a shocked gasp. She quickly looked at the ground with a sad look. The smell of sadness permeated from her body, making Iya realize how much she truly had cared. Lilly's scent revealed the same thing, although Orihime and the others did not show too much sadness.

Deciding to continue, Iya calmly said "Not long after that, the Lord of the Southern Lands grew tired of the remaining couple, for they never once touched one another, thus no child was produced. Even after forcing them to drink potions to induce feelings for one another, to make each need one another, the Lord was beside of himself to see that neither would give in. Having had enough, he released them."

Slightly smiling, he added "The two did mate after being released and moved to the Eastern Lands. They still reside there as far as I know. Me and Ichigo actually met them a year or two ago while tracking The Thirteen. They were nice, and did truly love one another, although they had no children, but that didn't bother them."

Returning his vision to Kimimaro, Iya calmly asked "You, you're the child that escaped, aren't you Kimimaro?"

"Yes, I was." Kimimaro evenly replied. "When I was banished from the Southern Lands, I was but a seven year old boy. Since then, I have grown wise to this world, and now I am the last of the Kaguya Clan."

"Last?" Iya asked with a frown. "The other two still live."

Smirking, Kimimaro remarked "No longer do they walk this earth."

Hardening his eyes towards the young bone demon, Iya sternly asked "What do you mean? What happened to them?"

"I killed them." Kimimaro simply said, with no emotion at all in his voice.

Unable to hold his tongue, Iya snarled out "You killed them!? What for, they were at peace with themselves and safe!"

Lightly smirking once more, Kimimaro nonchalantly responded with "They were no longer a part of the Kaguya Clan. If they had been, they would have listened to what I asked them to do."

"Which was?" Iya sternly asked.

Smirking at Iya, Kimimaro simply said "To join me and serve my Masters. They have been good to me, and I knew they would be good to my former clan's people."

"They refused you though, and you killed them for it!" Iya lightly growled out.

Shrugging, Kimimaro replied "They said they were content and had no desire to fight any longer. Hence I ended them, for without their will to fight, they were no longer Kaguya."

Clenching his fists tightly, Iya lowly growled and felt his anger inside welling up. Images of the two Kaguya Clan members he had met a few years ago spilled through his mind. An image of a kind woman with long silver hair, along with a strong, yet understanding man with silver hair just as long clouded his mind. The two had been so kind to him and Ichigo when they visited, and had told him what they could of any activity in the area. The mages hadn't been through there, but they had complied and said they would watch for them.

Feeling his blood boil at the thought of losing such good people, Iya glared at Kimimaro and snarled "You'll pay for their deaths!"

"I have no fear of you." Kimimaro stated. "My Masters have told me the chances of my death, yet I fear it not. I have a purpose, and that is to fulfill my Masters wishes." Kimimaro iterated.

"Why do you serve The Thirteen?" Ichigo interrupted.

Softly smiling, Kimimaro glanced up at the sky and slowly said "They saved me. I was a child still when I ran into them. Lord Orochimaru found me and gave me a purpose. He had known of the defeat of my clan, and offered a purpose. A purpose to serve The Thirteen, and to help them in bringing order about. I agreed to it, for now my purpose was made clear."

"How sad." Iya remarked evenly. "You fell for their sweet words. What did they promise you? Power? Fortune? Or honor?"

"None of the above." Kimimaro snidely replied. "I was told I would help usher in a new world, one without pain and suffering. My wish is to help them complete their goals, and that is my only wish."

Returning his gaze to Iya, he added "And now, I will complete the task my Masters asked of me."

"THE HELL WITH THIS!" Inuyasha yelled while charging forward.

Running at a high speed, Inuyasha rushed past the entire group and leapt high into the air. While on the way up, he drew his Tetsusaiga, causing it to instantly transform with a surge of demonic energy. Coming down fast, he brought Tetsusaiga down in front of himself and bared all his weight onto it. Kimimaro simply prepared himself with a back stance, allowing his left foot to lead. Putting all his weight on his back foot, he stretched his arms up towards the sky and opened his palms.

In a red flash, Inuyasha came down, impacting the ground hard, while a loud sound of metal meeting something sounded through the air. A large cloud of dust stirred up from the impact crater Inuyasha had made upon hitting the ground, keeping everyone from seeing the results of the attack.

After a minute or so, the dust settled, revealing two white spikes protruding from Kimimaro's hands, which had caught Tetsusaiga and kept it from his body. Inuyasha was looking at the two spikes in shock before quickly retreating to a safe distance.

The entire group, but Iya and Ichigo, stared at the spikes in somewhat shock and dismay. Finally finding his voice, Inuyasha gruffly asked "What the hell are those things!?"

Smirking at the question, Kimimaro raised his hands, revealing the spikes even more. "As Iya told you already, I am a bone demon. I can restructure the bones in my body so that they can be used as weapons. As you see, I have lengthened the bones in my hands to form these pair of spikes."

Retracting the spikes in his hands, Kimimaro slowly reached up opened his tunic top and removed his left arm from it. Reaching above his left shoulder with his right hand, Kimimaro lightly sent energy into the shoulder. Slowly, a white bone handle slid out. Taking hold of it with his right hand, he slowly pulled the bone on out of his shoulder, till finally a sword made of bone was drawn. Swinging it downwards, Kimimaro smirked and popped his left shoulder. Without warning, he clenched his left hand into a fist and then moved his left arm.

"What the hell!?" Inuyasha asked in shock.

"He pulled the bone in his arm out and made it into a sword!?" Lilly questioned with a look of fright.

Smirking at the sight of the bewildered and scared half demons, Kimimaro noticed that Iya and Ichigo were unaffected by his actions. "You two have seen the others perform that move, having you?"

"We did witness the two members of the Kaguya do it, yes." Iya responded quietly.

"Then you know how strong this bone is. It is harder than tempered steel." Kimimaro explained with a smirk.

Gripping Tetsusaiga tightly, Inuyasha rushed forward, yelling "I don't give a damn what it is, I'll snap that bone in half!"

Swinging Tetsusaiga downward at Kimimaro's head with full force, Inuyasha was a bit shocked when the bone demon blocked his swing with his own sword while only using one hand.

"_What the hell!? I'm exerting all the strength I have and his sword is holding up! Not to mention, he only has to use one hand!?_" Inuyasha inwardly grumbled.

Seeing Inuyasha's shock, Kimimaro stoically said "Your strength is nothing compared to mine half demon. I was hoping you would present more of a challenge."

Gnashing his teeth together, Inuyasha pulled Tetsusaiga back and swung again, only to be blocked by the bone sword once more. "DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" he snarled while lashing out again with Tetsusaiga, only to hear the sound of the swords clashing once more.

Inuyasha continued to swing and slash at Kimimaro, who only parried and blocked with his own sword. Having had enough, Inuyasha leapt back and lifted Tetsusaiga above his head, screaming "Die you bastard!"

Seeing this, Kimimaro's eyes widened. He could sense the demonic power within Tetsusaiga beginning to stir. "_This must be some kind of finishing attack. It's time I demonstrate more of my abilities!_"

Slamming the Tetsusaiga to the ground, Inuyasha screamed out "Wind Scar!"

Rushing forward in a blinding white light, a blast of demonic energy in the form of a claw slammed into Kimimaro, stirring up a cloud of dust along the way. Most of the group covered their faces to keep the rubble and debris from flying back and hitting them.

Once the blast was over, Inuyasha triumphantly smirked and cockily declared "What was that about me being weak!?"

"I said you were weak, and I see I was right." Kimimaro's voice called out, making Inuyasha's eyes widen in surprise. The remainder of the group all peered into the dust cloud, which was slowly settling.

From the cloud, a white form in an egg like shell became visible. Slowly, the shell receded, revealing a completely unharmed Kimimaro.

"Impossible… Inuyasha's Wind Scar hit him head on!" Kagome declared, seemingly exasperated by the results.

Smirking at a shocked Inuyasha, Kimimaro stoically said "My Bone Shield was more than enough to protect my body from your pathetic attack. Know this, my shield has never been broken in battle. You cannot defeat me. Surrender and die with peace of mind."

Gripping Tetsusaiga tightly once more, Inuyasha charged forward. "Like the hell I'll do that!"

In a fury, Inuyasha continued his assault on Kimimaro, who simply dodged, parried, or blocked all of Inuyasha's attacks. He seemed to do so with great ease, like poetry in motion, making Inuyasha that much more furious and continue to blindly lash out.

Leaping away, Kimimaro looked at Inuyasha and said in a bored tone "You moves are predictable half demon. I am ending this now."

Digging his sword into the ground, Kimimaro pulled his arms up and crossed them. Small white bones in the shape of bullets slowly began to form on his finger tips, but no one but himself could see them. Without hesitation, he turned his hands towards Inuyasha with his fingers pointed directly at him.

"Digital Shrapnel!" he cried out in a thunderous voice.

The ten bullet like bones instantly went sailing straight for Inuyasha at a speed so fast that he could only watch them coming at him.

"_Shit! No time to dodge them!_" he screamed in his mind while watching the bullets approach.

"HINAGIKU, LILY, BAIGON GO!"

Upon hearing the voice shouting out, Inuyasha saw three blinding lights appear before him and take up position in a triangle shape.

Before he could ask anything, the same voice cried out "SANTEN KESSHUN!"

The three lights instantly glowed once more, with each shooting a golden beam between each of the three points. Soon enough, a triangular barrier formed, which was filled in with golden energy. The bones immediately smashed into the barrier, making it sparkle for a moment before the bones were disintegrated.

Letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding, Inuyasha's gaze turned to the source of the voice that had called out a moment before. He quickly found it belonged to Orihime, who had her hands outstretched towards him and the glowing golden barrier. She slowly lowered her hands back to her side, causing the barrier to fade away and the three points of light to reveal themselves as fairies.

The first was an older male fairy with a single lock of silver hair in a ponytail, wearing a purple jumpsuit. On his back were four purple blade like wings with yellow dots.

Next was another male fairy that was a bit portly with a single ponytail that was brown and in a braid. He had a metal plate covering his mouth and white blade like wings coming out of his shoulders and back. His clothing was a simple olive colored long sleeved shirt and a pair of white pants with a black rope holding the two together.

The final fairy was a petit busty female with dark pink hair in several buns with four mostly pink with a light blue set of pattern blade like wings coming off of her sides and hips. She wore a blue leotard that revealed her large cleavage, with a thong back that revealed a black and white checkered heart tattoo on her butt.

"You saved me?" Inuyasha asked with a bit of shock in his voice.

Orihime happily smiled and nodded. "Yep, I did." she replied. Turning a bit more serious, she added "If I hadn't, you'd have been seriously hurt, if not killed."

In a low, almost unnoticeable voice, Inuyasha mumbled "Thanks…"

"Lady mage." Kimimaro's stoic voice spoke up, earning Orihime and everyone else's attention. "Who are you?"

Staying serious, Orihime calmly replied "My name is Orihime Inoue."

Clenching his jaw momentarily, a flash of emotion flickered in Kimimaro's eyes, but vanished quickly. "Lady Orihime, you are the mage that refused to join my Master Byakuya sometime back, are you not?"

"I am. What of it?" Orihime asked with calmness still in her voice.

"Lord Byakuya would still welcome you to his side if you are interested. I'm sure he would love to have you join The Thirteen." Kimimaro replied.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Orihime reopened them and smiled. "No thanks. I'm part of a great group already!"

Frowning, Kimimaro slightly sighed and pulled his arms in and crossed them in front of his body. In a low inaudible mumble, he said "So be it, Lady Orihime."

Opening his eyes, he pointed his hands towards Orihime, revealing bone bullets. In a loud scream, he yelled "Digital Shrapnel!"

The bone bullets instantly went speeding towards her, who saw the attack coming at her quickly. Raising her hands, she cried out "Guys, get into position!"

The three fairies instantly moved in front of her and she shouted out "Santen Kesshun!"

Forming a triangle perimeter in front of Orihime, the three fairies each shot out a beam of golden energy at one another. With the triangle completed, the middle filled in with a golden barrier. The bone bullets immediately hit the barrier, causing them to incinerate upon striking it.

Throwing a hard glare at Kimimaro, she said "Return."

Vanishing in a flash of light, the three fairies returned to the safety of her snowflake hairpins, while Orihime cried out "Tsubaki, come out and attack with Koten Zanshun!"

A beam of light flashed out of one of Orihime's hairpins to in front of her, revealing a small fairy dressed in a black jumpsuit that had a small amount of red on it. He had a head full of brown hair that was sticking up and somewhat pointed, and tanned skin. Around his nose down to his lower neck, he wore a tanned scarf that flowed off his back. On his sides were two black wings, along with two others on his calves.

Finally out and free, he transformed into a sharp looking arrow head like weapon and began glowing with a bright white light. Without hesitation, the blade went flying towards Kimimaro with Orihime guiding it with her left hand. She wore a look of seriousness and concentration while guiding the blade. It was originally aimed at Kimimaro's head to start with, who could only stare at the fast projectile.

At the last moment, Orihime redirected the projectile at his right shoulder, making a sickening crunching sound fill the air. The projectile soon returned to beside of Orihime's head and reverted back to the black clothed fairy.

In an irate voice, the fairy yelled "Why the hell did you hesitate!? I could have killed him!"

Grabbing her hair and pulling it, making Orihime comically scream out in pain, the fairy angrily screamed "You stupid girl, he still lives!"

Pulling her hair free from the fairy's grip, she grumbled "I know, but I didn't want to kill him."

Staring at his broken right shoulder, Kimimaro raised an eyebrow at Orihime and the bickering fairy. "_She's far stronger than I thought. It's no surprise for a mage, but for her to be able to shatter my bone, that is truly amazing. For that, she will die._"

A crackling sound instantly filled the air, making everyone return their attention from Orihime to Kimimaro. After a long moment, he rotated his right shoulder and raised the once limp hand. Making sure it was working fully, he turned a glare towards Orihime, who was quickly on guard.

"Interesting, you broke my shoulder. Very few demons have ever broken one of my bones. I must say, you are strong." Kimimaro admitted. Retaining his cold glare, he added "You will pay for that with your own life."

Reaching up with his left hand towards his shoulder, Kimimaro pulled the other part of his tunic off so he was revealing his bare chest. After a moment, he moved his hand back to his right shoulder and waited a moment till a bone slowly pushed out of the shoulder. Grabbing hold of the bone, he pulled it on out, revealing a second bone sword. Picking up his other sword with his right hand, he evilly smirked at the group.

"I think it's time I end this little game and return my two Masters' slaves."

"The hell you will!" Inuyasha screamed out while charging towards Kimimaro.

Raising Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha put his full strength into a downward slash at Kimimaro, who raised one of his swords to block, sending sparks flying from the strike. Pulling back, Inuyasha continued slashing at Kimimaro, only to continue to miss his target or be blocked.

Raising one sword to block, Kimimaro said in a bored voice "You are not worthy of fighting me half breed. Be gone!"

Pulling his other sword, up, he swung at an angle to which Inuyasha couldn't block or avoid. Before making contact though, a new blade in the shape of a cleaver entered the fray, blocking the strike with a heaving clang. Glancing to the side, Kimimaro spotted Ichigo with a smug look on his face.

"Sorry to cut in, but I couldn't stand waiting any longer." Ichigo smartly remarked.

Eyeing Ichigo with a bit of contempt, Kimimaro finally smirked, saying "Very well, I'll take both of you on. It should be easy."

With both Ichigo and Inuyasha bristling up with anger, each drew back their swords and attacked on opposite sides of Kimimaro. Using both swords, Kimimaro defended himself from both attackers with ease.

Infuriated that he wasn't getting anywhere, Inuyasha leapt twenty feet away and growled out "Enough of this!"

Turning Tetsusaiga to where it's broad edge was facing Kimimaro, Inuyasha called forth a new transformation to the sword. Tetsusaiga pulsated for a moment before glowing brightly and transforming into a diamond blade. Swinging the sword in front of himself to his opposite side, he yelled out "Ichigo, move!"

Hearing the words, Ichigo quickly leapt away while Inuyasha swung his sword back to the other side and cried out "Adamant Barrage!"

Upon screaming out his attack, shards of diamonds went shooting out of the Tetsusaiga and went rushing straight towards Kimimaro, who only looked at the oncoming attack with a bored expression. Pulling his swords in towards his body, he quietly said "Bone Shield."

Like before, an egg like structure began forming around Kimimaro's body, covering him up completely after a mere moment. The shards struck the egg structure hard, with a few of the shards chipping off some of the bone, leaving small divots.

Once the shards had stopped striking the shell, Kimimaro finally lowered defenses, but noted while it shrank away that it had chips missing out of it. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced up at Inuyasha, who stood with his jaw clenched.

"_The half demon's attack managed to put chips in my Bone Shield. That is the first time I've seen that happen. Hmm, perhaps I underestimated him._"

Staring with his jaw clenched, Inuyasha grunted in irritation. "_Damn it, that bastard's bones are too strong for even my Adamant Barrage to cut through. Now what the hell do I do!?_"

Glancing over at Ichigo, Inuyasha saw him nod lightly. Realizing what he was meaning for him to do, Inuyasha returned the nod and charged forward. Tetsusaiga had lost it's diamond blade look and returned to it's normal metal blade. Clashing with Kimimaro's blades, Inuyasha struck hard and fast, trying to keep Kimimaro distracted while Ichigo did whatever he was doing.

Standing ten feet away, Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, they glowed light blue while the demonic aura of Zangetsu began swirling around the blade. Lifting his blade upwards, Ichigo's own demonic aura began spilling out of his body in a blue wave. The halberd raised above his body instantly began howling while more and more blue demonic aura poured from it. Dust and dirt began circling his body while he turned a hard glare towards Kimimaro. With a loud yell, he rushed forward. The yell instantly made Inuyasha look up and quickly leap out of the away.

Slamming his blade into the ground in front of Kimimaro, Ichigo screamed out "Die!"

A huge wave of white demonic energy shot out from the sword, causing Kimimaro's eyes to widen a fraction. Pulling his arms in, he quickly yelled out "Bone Shield!"

The blast only continued on, striking the egg shaped structure. A white dome of energy instantly enveloped the area, making most of the group cover their faces to keep the blinding light out of their eyes. Everyone's hair was flapping strongly in the wind, along with their clothing.

Slowly, bit by bit, the blast began to subside, revealing a heavily panting Ichigo, who was hunched over a bit. The dust was still unsettled before him, hiding what Kimimaro's fate had become.

Smiling great big, Lilly excitedly said "He did it!"

"Don't be so certain Lilly." Iya cautiously stated. "Kimimaro is strong, so don't underestimate him."

Looking to Iya, Lilly noted the seriousness and concern in his eyes. Returning her gaze, she quietly said in her mind "_Come on Ichigo, hang in there. I know you can do it._"


	27. Chapter 27: A Kaguya's Fate, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend, not much happened. It rained, that's about it, lol. I saw my grandparents, and that was about it really. Even this week thus far, nothing exciting has happened.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a good bit on this story done, so it's still moving nicely. As for my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, I'm trying to work on it, but I'm mostly just coming up with ideas on things for it.**

**Alright, moving along, here are the reviews!**

**kattana: Thanks. I'm glad you like the fight thus far. Heh, yes, Kimimaru I suppose is hot, although I wouldn't know. After all, I'm a guy and don't say "Hey, that guy is hot!", lol. If you want to see what he looks like, I'd suggest going to Google Images and putting in Kimimaru, and you'll see him. I may look into posting pics of what some of the characters look like, or somewhat look like so everyone has a better idea. As for why Orihime didn't kill Kimimaru when she had her chance, there is a good reason actually. She prefers not to fight or kill people. Her nature is peaceful, but she'll fight and kill if necessary. Hence why she refused to kill Kimimaru on her first attack. True, it would have been over, but she just prefers not to kill. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Flamed to hell wouldn't be any fun, and yes, it was an evil cliffhanger I suppose, hehe. I've been thinking on that. I didn't know about the Dragon Scaled Tetsusaiga when I started, but I soon enough found out, same for Mediou, now Mediou Zengetsuha. I'll probably incorporate them, but that depends. I didn't really go into how Naraku died for a very important reason, due that the manga hadn't shown it yet until recently. Anyways, I will more than likely use the other forms of Tetsusaiga, so no worries. Thanks for the review, and not flaming me to hell, lol.**

**i'm a pirate grr: Hello and welcome to the reviews. Interesting name btw, lol. Yes, I made Kenshin a bad guy for this story. I figured why not try it and see if I could portray him as one for once. Most say he is good and struggles with his past, but I just made him bad period, lol. But yes, totally OOC, hehe. Thanks for the review, and I hope to see you again.**

**Hibikari: Ah, ok, I didn't know if the alerts were on the fritz again or not. I just got to thinking about it due that my other story had that problem last week, so I figured that maybe the alerts were acting up once more. Glad you like being in the loop, lol. And thank you for taking the time to review, and for that review.**

**Well, that's it for this round. Thanks to everyone that sent me a review this past week. I had though possibly that the alerts were messed up once more on Friday due that my other story had not sent out alerts a few days before, so to not take any chances, I sent out PMs. I apologize if anyone didn't wish to receive them, but I try and keep people up to date if I can. Anyways, thanks to all that sent me some reviews. I really appreciated the feedback. It helps a lot in what I decide to do with this story at times.**

**Anyways, I'm done for today, so enjoy everyone!**

**Chapter 27**

Heavily panting, Ichigo stared at the settling dust before him. "Did I do it?" he whispered a loud.

After a moment, his answer came with the sight of the egg shaped barrier. Widening his eyes in shock, Ichigo muttered "Not possible…"

Bit by bit, the egg barrier slowly vanished, revealing a calm Kimimaro. The ground surrounding him was destroyed and gone with a deep ring like hole, except for the small piece of ground he stood on.

Glancing at the hole and then back up at the panting Ichigo, Kimimaro smirked and smugly said "Very impressive attack. If I hadn't raised my Bone Shield at the last second, I would have surely died. I must commend you on that attack."

Lowly growling, Ichigo tightly gripped the hilt of his sword and straightened up while casting a glare. "I wouldn't get my hopes up that you've won yet."

"I've already won, but you refuse to accept it." Kimimaro smugly remarked. "Can't you see, you are no stronger than you were when you faced Master Kenshin?"

Letting out a furious roar, Ichigo rushed forward and attempted to slash Kimimaro, only to meet one of Kimimaro's swords, sending out a shower of sparks.

"You shut your mouth!" Ichigo snarled while grinding his sword hard against Kimimaro's.

Smirking, Kimimaro smartly asked "What is wrong bobcat? Did I hit a nerve? Is it because you failed to protect your former mate?"

Clutching Zangetsu tighter, Ichigo's demonic aura flared around his body, giving him a burst of strength. Pushing harder than before, he began to push Kimimaro backwards a bit, who tried to brace himself, but found he couldn't.

With a loud snarl, Ichigo slung his blade hard, throwing Kimimaro backwards ten feet. Leaping into the air, Ichigo moved his sword before him so he could come down with a downward slash. Reacting to it, Kimimaro raised both swords into a cross position to catch the fast approaching Ichigo.

Coming down hard, Ichigo struck the crossed swords with incredible force, making Kimimaro sink into the ground slightly, sending debris out from under his feet. Grunting in response, Kimimaro felt his arms buckling and glared at Ichigo, who was still baring his full weight down on him.

Clenching his jaw a bit, Kimimaro growled out "Enough of this!"

In a simple motion, he pulled his swords out of their position, making Ichigo come forward more. With quickness that Ichigo could barely see, he watched Kimimaro move out of the way and in behind him. Behind Ichigo's back, Kimimaro slashed Ichigo across his back twice, once with each sword, causing Ichigo to scream out in pain while falling forward still till he crashed onto the ground.

On the ground, Ichigo cringed a bit while blood slowly began to soak through his black top. Standing tall behind Ichigo, Kimimaro smirked.

"You are stronger than I thought, but like I said before, you are too weak to defeat me." Kimimaro smugly remarked.

Clenching his jaw tightly, Ichigo's grip on his sword tightened. Struggling a bit, he began to try and stand, only to have Kimimaro move to his side and kick him hard in the ribs with a heavy foot. Rolling over onto his back, Ichigo coughed hard while trying to catch his breath.

"Enough of that!" Orihime called out while raising her hand towards Kimimaro.

Hearing her words, Kimimaro quickly spun around and went racing towards her with his swords pulled to his sides. His speed was very surprising to her, and within an instant, he was nearly on top of her. Swinging at her, she quickly leapt backwards twenty feet.

Raising one sword up high, he dug it hard into the ground, yelling "Bracken Dance!"

Exactly where Kimimaro dug his sword into the ground, a series of bone spikes began erupting from the ground, making Orihime quickly refocus her attention on them. They were coming towards her at an alarming rate of speed. Each spike appeared very sharp and capable of ripping anything in their path apart.

Staring at the oncoming attack, Orihime's eyes widened a bit before she called out "Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon! Santen Kesshun!"

In a flashing light, the three fairies materialized before Orihime and took up a triangular position. The three formed a golden line of energy between each of them and filled the middle in with a golden energy barrier.

Plowing forward, the spikes struck the barrier, with multiple ones breaking. Orihime smirked at the results, but her eyes widened in shock when spikes began appearing from behind the barrier and still heading towards her.

"No way!" she screamed while leaping backwards. Hearing her scream, the three fairies regrouped around Orihime and formed a cone shape around her. A golden glow formed instantly, but the bone spikes soon hid her completely.

"ORIHIME!" Kagome screamed out with worry filling her voice. Both she and Lilly ran towards where the spikes were surrounding the position where they had last seen Orihime at.

Sneering at his handiwork, Kimimaro turned to find Ichigo rushing towards him with Zangetsu raised.

"YOU BASTARD, YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Ichigo yelled while swinging Zangetsu at Kimimaro's head one handed, only to clash his sword with Kimimaro's once again.

Smirking, Kimimaro stoically said "I'm surprised you are standing again after the wounds I inflicted upon you."

"I'm full of surprises, like the one where I kill you!" Ichigo snarled.

"Unlikely."

Pushing Ichigo's sword away, Kimimaro raised the other sword and slashed him across the chest, making Ichigo howl in pain and leap away. Blood began to soak through his kimono top, leaving a hint that Kimimaro had struck hard.

Coughing a bit, Ichigo glared at Kimimaro and snarled out "I'll kill you for what you did to Orihime!"

"Empty threats are pointless." Kimimaro stated while beginning to move forward to deliver another blow.

Before he could, Inuyasha leapt in his path and slammed Tetsusaiga towards Kimimaro's chest. Quick to block, Kimimaro threw one of his bone swords up, sending out a shower of sparks.

"You didn't forget about me now did you, you bastard!?" Inuyasha mockingly asked.

"Hardly…" Kimimaro dryly remarked.

Pulling Tetsusaiga back, Inuyasha backed away and then went forward with a heavy side slash, only to have Kimimaro block with one of his own swords. Spinning around, Kimimaro threw a powerful kick into a shocked Inuyasha, which made a sickening crunching sound and sent Inuyasha flying into a nearby tree. He fell to the ground in a heap, seemingly unconscious.

Smirking at his work, Kimimaro returned his attention to Ichigo, who was attempting to stand up slowly. He was on one knee panting heavily with Zangetsu dug into the ground to help support him in standing up once more.

Walking to Ichigo, Kimimaro gave him an emotionless look and said "You are pathetic bobcat. Know this, you were never destined to destroy Master Kenshin. Now die and join your pathetic mate."

Ichigo only looked up with a glare and fierce determination in his eyes. On wobbly legs, he stood up and picked Zangetsu up and shouldered the sword. Spitting off to the side, he returned his glare towards Kimimaro and charged forward while yelling loudly.

The twin blades expertly caught Ichigo's one handed attack with Zangetsu, sending out a small shower of sparks. Pulling the bottom sword out from below, Kimimaro thrust it forward and plunged it into Ichigo's left side, making him gasp out in pain. Ichigo slowly backed away, in effect pulling Kimimaro's sword out. Crimson life force immediately began pouring out of the wound while Ichigo fell to one knee, but held fast to Zangetsu.

"Stubborn bobcat, you will die." Kimimaro stoically stated.

Raising his unsullied sword, he prepared to swing downwards at Ichigo, only to have another, thin looking sword catch his own. Looking to the owner of the sword, he spotted Lilly standing to his right side.

"ENOUGH OF THAT! I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANY OF MY FRIENDS!" she hissed.

Leaping away ten feet, Kimimaro gave her an impassive look. "Woman, I will not kill you, but I must tell you this. Interfere in this fight any farther and I shall have to harm you. Your master wishes to have you brought back with no blemishes, but I shall not be responsible if you do not surrender now."

Glaring at Kimimaro, Lilly stubbornly replied "I'm not going anywhere with you! We will kill Kenshin and the others, allowing us to become free once again!"

"That's right Lilly, we will." a voice added.

The two fighters looked to Kimimaro's left to find Kagome standing with her hand on the hilt of her sword. Glaring at Kimimaro, she heatedly said "We won't let those mages win, and we won't let you harm our friends anymore either!"

Sighing, Kimimaro mumbled "Very well, I will not be held accountable any longer for your well being. I will take you by any means necessary to your masters."

Drawing Hikari from it's sheath, Kagome called forth it's transformation with her demonic energy. Lilly moved into a forward stance with Kimi pointed at Kimimaro.

Nodding towards Kagome, who returned the nod, both Lilly and Kagome charged forward with feral growls. Both slammed their swords against a bone sword each, sending out a shower of sparks from both strikes.

Kimimaro only grunted to this and began blocking the rapid slashes and swipes that the two were performing. Sparks continued to fill the air while the two struck his bone swords.

Leaping backwards a bit, Kagome called forth her miko powers and let them flow into Hikari. The blade began glowing a bright shade of pink, making the blade pulsate. Raising Hikari above her head, she cried out "Move Lilly!"

Hearing Kagome's order, Lilly leapt away just as Kagome slammed her sword to the ground, shouting out "Purifying Arrow!"

A pink arrow of energy formed upon Kagome slamming the sword to the ground, which went racing towards Kimimaro. He only stood his ground and smirked at the oncoming attack.

"Bone Shield." he quietly mumbled while pulling his arms in. Instantly, the egg like bone barrier appeared around his body.

The pink arrow of energy slammed into the bone barrier, only to fizzle out, making Kagome's eyes widen.

"But that should have purified him!" she protested in shock.

Slowly, the bone barrier vanished, revealing Kimimaro once again. Smugly, he said "I'm sure against any other demon, that might be the case, but not with me. My bones do not have a demonic aura to them, so trying to purify them was a waste of time."

Gripping Hikari tighter, Kagome lightly growled while Lilly rushed forward. She began attacking with a series of diagonal and downward slashes, only to have Kimi blocked every time by Kimimaro's bone swords.

Spinning around with blinding speed, Kimimaro hit Lilly in the chest with a light kick, flinging her away about ten feet. She coughed hard, trying to catch her breath.

Seeing his prey was down, he rushed forward, only to be blocked at the last moment by Iya. Leaping backwards about fifteen feet, Kimimaro wearily eyed Iya.

"Lilly, Kagome, that's enough. You did well." Iya declared. "Go check on Inuyasha, Ichigo, and Orihime. Try and patch them up if you can."

Lilly only looked at Iya for a moment and finally asked "What are you going to do?"

"I'll deal with Kimimaro. Go on, help the others." he simply replied.

Kagome nodded immediately and went rushing towards the tree where Inuyasha sat under. After a moment of hesitation, Lilly nodded too and went to where Ichigo lay.

Coldly staring at Kimimaro, Iya sternly said "You deal with me from now on."

Smirking, Kimimaro simply replied "Gladly."

--

Reaching Inuyasha's fallen form, Kagome fell to her knees and felt for his pulse on his neck. Finding it, she let out a small sigh of relief. Examining his body, she found no wounds, but knew by the way he was holding his right side with his left arm that he had broken ribs from Kimimaro's kick, plus possibly more broken bones due to hitting the tree.

Softly, she asked "Inuyasha?"

Getting no response, she cupped his cheek with her hand. "Hang in there Inuyasha, I'll take care of you."

Gently, she gathered him up into her arms and was a bit surprised when she realized she could lift him. "_I guess all that demon strength is really coming in handy._" she mused.

Moving him away from the tree a bit, she laid him down flat in the shade of the tree. Scanning the battlefield for her yellow backpack, she found it quickly. Noting Inuyasha was resting comfortably, she cupped his cheek once again and softly said "Don't worry Inuyasha, I'll bandage you up soon. I need to help Lilly with Ichigo and Orihime first. Just hang on, please."

She still got no response, but ran off to where her yellow backpack was.

--

Upon leaving Iya, Lilly ran to Ichigo. The young man was still conscious and sitting on one knee still yet, but blood was pouring out from his last wound. He had his one free hand over it, holding pressure to it to try and stop the bleeding, while the other still gripped the hilt of Zangetsu tightly.

Falling down to her knees beside of him, Lilly asked "Are you alright there Ichigo?"

Weakly chuckling, he replied "Do I look alright?"

"You look alive, at the very least." she smartly countered.

"That's about all I am right now…" he grunted.

Hearing someone running towards them, Lilly moved her hand to Kimi's hilt, but upon taking in the scent that was approaching, she calmed. Kagome soon enough fell to her knees beside of her.

"I have medical supplies here that should help us." Kagome commented while digging into the large yellow backpack.

After a moment, she dug out her first-aid kit and grabbed her gauze wrappings. Handing Lilly the gauze and some disinfectant, Kagome looked back towards Inuyasha's prone figure.

"I need to wrap his ribs." she simply stated.

Nodding, Lilly replied "Go ahead. I can take care of Ichigo."

"Thanks…" Kagome quietly said and ran off to Inuyasha's side, leaving Lilly alone with Ichigo.

Turning her attention to Iya for a moment, Lilly listened in closely to him and Kimimaro, but they were not saying a thing, nor moving. They were for the most part staring at one another.

Returning her attention to Ichigo, who was weakly attempting to stand, Lilly put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. "Stop it Ichigo! You're hurt and need healed."

"These are just flesh wounds. I've seen worse." Ichigo scoffed.

Lightly growling, Lilly snarled out "If you don't behave, I'll force you to lay still!"

"Like you could." Ichigo huffed.

With a heavy clawed hand, Lilly smacked Ichigo's chest hard, making him yelp in pain and fall backwards onto the ground. Glaring down at him, she growled out "Listen to me from now on hard head."

Complying with a scowl, Ichigo laid still. Smirking at her accomplishment, Lilly reached for Ichigo's obi sash and pulled it loose, but lightly blushed pink at what she was doing.

Noting the light shade of pink on her face, Ichigo harshly asked "What the hell is going through your mind!?"

Shaking her head, Lilly regained her control and muttered "Sorry."

Sliding his kimono top open, she carefully pealed it free of where the blood was soaking in it. With gentle hands, she took a cloth that Kagome had left her and poured some disinfectant onto it. Carefully, she rubbed it over the slash mark on Ichigo's chest first, earning her a loud hiss from him.

"DAMN IT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SHIT!" he howled while sinking his fingers into the ground.

Frowning, Lilly mumbled "Quit being such a baby. It's just cleaning the wound out."

"Easy for you to say! That stuff is burning me!" Ichigo snarled.

Shrugging, Lilly finished cleaning the first wound and covered it with medical tape that Kagome left behind. Finishing up, she moved to the larger wound. Carefully, she began cleaning the wound, while trying to ignore Ichigo's furious growling.

Finally done, she carefully sat Ichigo up into a sitting position and wrapped the wound with gauze tape. Finishing, she attended to the wound on his back and did the same as she had to his front wounds.

With Ichigo all patched up, she asked "Can you stand?"

"I think so…"

Slowly, with great care, Ichigo stood with Lilly's help. On his feet, he used Zangetsu as a crutch to hold his weight.

"Ichigo, I want you to go over to where Inuyasha is and wait for me. I'm going to go check on Orihime and see what I can do about getting her out." Lilly instructed.

A deep frown crossed his face, but the look on Lilly's convinced him not to argue. "Fine." he flatly replied.

Watching him hobble over towards the others, Lilly rushed to the tower of tall bone spikes. There was a small break in them where Orihime's barrier had destroyed some of them, only to have them finally reach her. Glancing around, Lilly looked for a way into the bones to see if she could spot Orihime inside.

Walking around the side, Lilly's ears tweaked lightly upon hearing something yelled that she couldn't make out. A moment later, a projectile in the shape of an arrow head came streaking out of the bones, sending fragments and several of the tall bones crashing about onto the ground. Lilly instantly covered her face with her arms, receiving only a few scratches from the bone debris.

The projectile soon flew back around and went into the hole, where a light golden glow could be seen. Cautiously, Orihime stepped out shakily. Fully in the sunlight, she breathed in a deep breath of fresh air.

Looking Orihime over, Lilly noted she had a few minor scratches on her face and hands, but otherwise looked fine. "Are you ok?" she ventured.

Smiling, Orihime nodded and replied cheerily "I'm fine, but that was really close."

"What happened? We lost sight of you when the spikes formed that tower around you." Lilly questioned.

"Well, when the bone spikes were nearly on top of me, I used my barrier to surround my body. Luckily, it held and the spikes only trapped me inside of it. I finally lowered my barrier and used Tsubaki to make a hole, but only after I was sure I would be safe outside of my barrier. Tsubaki managed to punch a hole through the bone luckily and I escaped, although I scratched myself while climbing out. They're minimal damage though." Orihime commented.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Lilly softly smiled. Before she could say anything else, Orihime asked "What happened to Kimimaro?"

Turning her head to face where Iya stood, Lilly nodded in the direction, which Orihime looked at and slightly gasped. "He's going to fight Kimimaro?" she asked with a bit of a look of shock.

"Yeah, he intends on doing it." Lilly replied. Reaching out and taking hold of Orihime's hand, she began pulling. "Come on, the others are over here waiting for us."

"Alright…" Orihime murmured.

--

Staring at Kimimaro, Iya's ears swiveled a bit, checking his surroundings. He heard the sound of Ichigo panting from walking over to where Inuyasha and Kagome were. Soon enough, he heard Orihime blast a hole out of her prison and walk out.

Smirking lightly, Iya flatly said "It seems you've failed so far at your job to kill me and my friends, and to take back Lilly and Kagome."

"Only a minor setback." Kimimaro muttered. "It will be rectified soon enough once I kill you and then the others."

Still smirking, Iya lightly replied "You won't be killing me. I'm more than capable of taking you down, especially since I've killed some of your former masters."

Growling lowly, Kimimaro's jaw clenched, but he relaxed a moment later. Lowly chuckling, he smugly said "That might be true, but you've yet to kill the seven strongest. The other six were expendable."

"Do your masters say that to comfort themselves?" Iya sharply asked.

Glaring at Iya, Kimimaro rushed forward with his swords stretched out on both sides of his body. Reaching Iya, he attempted a side slash with both at Iya, only to watch Iya dodge by sidestepping them. Both swords whistled through the air instead of hitting a target. Not giving up, Kimimaro dug his left sword into the ground and pivoted on the hilt into the air. He threw a powerful kick aimed at Iya's ribs, only to hit air again while Iya leapt backwards five feet.

Staring at Iya when he landed, Kimimaro pulled his sword free from the ground and smirked slightly. "I see. You're faster than the others. Good." he commented. "Don't think that will help you keep me from killing you."

"You'll have to hit me first." Iya blandly replied.

Grunting, Kimimaro vanished before Iya's eyes. Glancing behind himself, Iya quickly leapt into the air, just in time to dodge a side slash from one of the bone swords. In the air, Iya looked down to see Kimimaro vanish again. Swiveling his ears, he quickly picked up sound above him and turned his attention to the area. Above him reappeared Kimimaro, who let out a loud yell and began to come down towards him with his swords aiming for him.

At the last second, Iya threw his body to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. Falling back down the ground, he put a ten foot distance between the two.

Staring at Iya with his serene aqua eyes, Kimimaro smirked. "You're most definitely faster than I thought. Perhaps you're even faster than me. I would have to guess you're just gauging me, correct?"

A small smile graced Iya's lips when he replied "Why whatever do you mean?"

"You've yet to draw your sword. I'm willing to bet you wanted to see just how fast I was." Kimimaro informed.

Shrugging, Iya softly responded with "Maybe…"

"Then come at me, Iya Taisho. My Masters wish for you to be dead, and I will do it, or die trying." Kimimaro stated while pointing one of his bone swords at Iya.

Slowly, Iya grabbed the hilt of Ketsaiga and drew the sword, causing it's transformation to immediately spark. Swinging the sword downwards before him, Iya softly smirked.

Smirking back, Kimimaro vanished once more, only to reappear in the air above Iya. Iya was more than aware of his presence and quickly moved Ketsaiga up to parry the attack.

Having his first sword blocked, Kimimaro swung around with his second, only to have it parried as well. Landing, he continued to pressure Iya with high speed slashes, only to have Iya parry them or dodge completely.

After ten minutes of fighting with one another, the two stopped with a distance of fifteen feet between them. Neither showed any signs of fatigue, with their breathing still at normal.

"Kimimaro, why don't we put our swords away and settle this by talking." Iya calmly suggested.

Keeping his eyes trained on Iya, Kimimaro replied "There is nothing you could say to change my mind."

Sighing, Iya remained calm and softly said "Kimimaro, let me ask you something. Is what The Thirteen are doing by taking slaves the same as what the Southern Lord did to the Kaguya Clan?"

Not receiving an answer, Iya added "The Southern Lord took four of the remaining five Kaguya Clan members and forced them to become his slaves. He attempted to make them to have children to make him new slaves and bodyguards that would serve only him and protect him. Then there is The Thirteen. They take humans and transform them into half demons, making them their slaves. They use them as bodyguards and for their own pleasure. Please tell me, what is the difference, and how you can serve a group that has done the same thing that was done to your own clan."

Closing his eyes, Kimimaro softly sighed and reopened them. They were downcast and aimed at the ground before him. In a calm, slow voice, he said "What the Southern Lord did to my former clan was unforgivable, but that matters little now. The Kaguya Clan was always foolish. Did you know that they feared me due that I was stronger than any of them? My father, the clan's leader, found out when I was but five that my power surpassed his own and every other Kaguyas too. That fear led to me being imprisoned in a dark and dank cell."

Pausing for a moment, he continued on. "I was removed from my cell occasionally only to be used as a weapon to fight for the clan. After the battle was over, I was put back into my cell and that was all. I was fed, but had no contact with the outside world."

Lifting his aqua eyes to look into Iya's muddy ones, he said "Then one day, I was brought out and told we were to take the Southern Keep. I fought hard, and even fought the Southern Lord myself. I was defeated, along with the rest of my clan, but I was spared death. The four others were taken away while I was banished from my land. With the loss of my clan, my purpose, my sole purpose that the Kaguya had given me was stolen. I was now lost and had nothing to live for."

A flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes when he added "That's when I met Lords Orochimaru and Ichimaru. Lord Orochimaru decided that I needed a purpose, thus gave me one. He entrusted me to dealing with their enemies when necessary, and to helping The Thirteen accomplish their goals."

Staring straight into Iya's eyes, Kimimaro asked "Do you understand now Iya? There is no comparison when you compare my Masters to the Southern Lord. How the Southern Lord acted is entirely different from how my Masters act. They act in the benefit of all, while the Southern Lord wanted to better himself only."

"_I see now that my words will not get through to him._" Iya mumbled in his mind. "_My words are useless. The mages made sure of that._"

Steeling his resolve, he made a decision. "_The only way I might be able to get him to realize that the mages are wrong is if I defeat him. I'll try to do it, without killing him._"

Gripping Ketsaiga tightly, Iya closed his eyes. Reopening them, the blade of Ketsaiga shimmered with light blue energy. The energy soon dissipated, revealing the blade was now covered in ice crystals with frosty steam coming off of it.

Swinging Ketsaiga to his right side, Iya swung the sword hard horizontally, crying out "Shard Storm!"

Millions of sharp ice shards instantly went racing straight for Kimimaro, who looked at them with wide eyes. Pulling his arms in, he yelled "Bone Shield!"

A barrier of bone taking the shape of an egg immediately enveloped Kimimaro at the last second, allowing the ice to only bang off of the barrier. The barrier though did take some damage, with chips of bone falling away.

After a few moments, the barrier lowered, with a slightly surprised looking Kimimaro emerging. Glancing from Iya to the ground, he noted that there were several shards of bone laying about.

"_His attack, it managed to put chips into my Bone Shield. Hmm, interesting... Perhaps I've not given him enough credit._" Kimimaro mused.

Not having a moment to spare on anymore thoughts, Kimimaro saw Iya rushing towards him with his sword in it's normal state again. The two clashed swords, sending out a shower of sparks. Again and again, Iya pressed the attack, only to have Kimimaro parry him, but that was all. It seemed to be all the bone demon could do, for the half dog demon relentlessly attacked.

Gripping the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly, Iya called upon the sword's demonic power and began channeling his own into the blade. Pulling back to strike Kimimaro's sword once more, he yelled out "Cold Wave!"

The blade of Ketsaiga instantly frosted over, becoming a blade of ice once more. Upon striking Kimimaro's bone blade, a loud crackling sound was heard, making Kimimaro stare at his sword that he was parrying with. With great haste, he leapt away and brought the sword up before his eyes, which were wide. The sword had frost coating the entire length of it, making Kimimaro's hand lightly shiver from the cold sensation running down the hilt.

Examining the sword once more and listening to the crackling sound that still persisted, Kimimaro blandly asked "What have you done to my sword?"

"That attack I just hit your sword with is known as Cold Wave. It allows me to freeze any object with different levels of coldness. The attack I hit your sword with was just cold enough to make the bone of your sword to crackle and make it slightly more brittle than before." Iya explained.

Pausing for a moment, Iya finally added "Kimimaro, I'd advise you to surrender."

"Your arrogance knows no bounds." Kimimaro huffed in response.

Lightly chuckling at it, Iya replied "I have my reasons for advising you to surrender. I don't wish to kill you, but I will if I must. Kimimaro, my powers over coldness are far stronger than your bone weapons can take. I only advise you to surrender for your own sake, for I don't know if I'll be able to spare your life once I release more of my power. So please, do surrender. I have no desire to kill you."

Glaring at Iya, Kimimaro lowly growled and charged Iya at blinding speed. He soon vanished from sight, only to reappear in the air above Iya. Glancing up, Iya was quick to dodge. Swinging around quickly, he yelled out "Cold Wave!"

The blade of Ketsaiga once more coated itself in ice and began releasing frosty steam into the air. Kimimaro saw the attack coming and raised both swords up to catch the icy blade coming at him. The first blade hit the frosty sword, only to begin loudly crackling and suddenly shatter in half at the point of contact. Continuing on, the frost blade sliced through the second sword as well, leaving only a small amount of the two swords behind while the blades fell to the ground.

Leaping backwards ten feet, Kimimaro looked at his two broken swords with eyes completely wide and his mouth agape. He tried to form words in his mouth, but couldn't say them. Glancing down at the remains of the blades at Iya's feet, he returned his vision once more to the frosty blade of Ketsaiga. The blade was slowly reverting to it's original form, with Iya holding it before him still with both hands.

"I warn you one last time to surrender now Kimimaro. That was a simple demonstration of how powerful I truly am. If you don't give up this foolishness, I'll have no choice but to stop you by any means necessary, even if that means killing you." Iya sternly stated.

Throwing the pieces of his swords to the side, Kimimaro closed his eyes and smirked. Reopening them, he threw a smirk at Iya, saying "I see now that your power is truly amazing. Very well then, I shall no longer hold back either. I have no choice but to release my true form and show you my true power."


	28. Chapter 28: A Kaguya's Fate, Pt 3

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, I spent the day cutting hay for my dad at my grandfather's farm. I was pretty upbeat about it, mostly due that working in the hay kind of relaxes me a bit. It did suck though that my allergies bugged me all day. I quickly found out that my allergy medicine that I was prescribed to isn't strong enough to handle my hay fever, so that sucks. Still, I got better that evening and went shopping with my mate. Other than that, nothing else is really new in real life.**

**Writing wise, I'm still working on this story and my other. Nothing really new to report on either one. Hilariously enough, I have come up with a bit of an idea for a Naruto fic, but I think I'll hold off on it for sure till I'm done with both of these stories.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yes, I am evil like Takahasi with my cliffhangers. Heh, I've been told that many times over, lol. NO!! Don't review strike! I'll be a good boy! Lol, fun fun. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thanks for the single review from you Mitsukai. Ah yes, and thanks for the add to your favs there animewatcher123454. I appreciate it.**

**That's it for me today. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 28**

Staring at Kimimaro's stern face, Iya softly said "Kimimaro, it's alright to give up."

"NO!" Kimimaro angrily snapped back. "I will not fail my Masters. I will die before failing them! Now witness my full power!"

Closing his eyes once more, Kimimaro lightly grunted and hunched over while the crest on his chest began glowing red. Slowly, the crest spread out, causing his skin to begin to turn a shade of brown. On his face, black demon markings formed on his eyebrows and on his lower eyes. Fangs slowly poked out of his mouth, revealing that they had lengthened. His fingers and toes each had claws slowly grow out. The bones within his body began crackling loudly while his body reshaped. Six thick bones sprouted out from his sides, one from each shoulder, and the other four down his sides. A series of bone spikes sprouted slowly out of the center of his back along his spine, and a tail soon shot out of his rear too. It too had a row of bone spikes. With a slight swish, it whipped around, revealing he had fine control over it.

At long last, he let out a deep breath and stood up fully straight. Opening his eyes, he revealed cold golden eyes that now replaced his aqua ones.

"Impressed by what you see?" he smugly asked.

Looking Kimimaro over, Iya softly said "Kimimaro, please, listen to reason."

"NO MORE TALKING!" Kimimaro bellowed while charging Iya.

At blinding speed, Kimimaro was in front of Iya. Shocked at this, Iya quickly attempted to leap away to safety, only to have Kimimaro's clawed hand swipe out at him. At the last moment, he used Ketsaiga to shield his body, allowing Kimimaro's claws to scrape the metal.

Recovering a few feet away, Iya was hardly prepared when Kimimaro pounced on him again. Again, all Iya could do was block with Ketsaiga and avoid any damage by rolling out of the way. He wasn't allowed to go far, for Kimimaro was quickly there to attack.

Again and again, Iya managed to avoid Kimimaro's sharp clawed hands and tail, but he could not seem to escape the powerful bone demon. No matter what Iya tried, Kimimaro was nearly on top of him each and every time.

Finally out of desperation, he pulled Ketsaiga over his head and called forth it's icy transformation. Slamming the sword into the ground, he cried out "Ice Barrier!"

A large twenty foot wall of ice formed in front of Iya, blocking Kimimaro, who slammed into it hard. The ice cracked at the point of contact, but held firm. Having a moment to get some distance, Iya did just that, placing fifteen feet between himself and the bone demon.

The wall soon shattered, sending chunks of ice tumbling to the ground in multiple directions. Darkly chuckling while walking through the debris, Kimimaro smugly asked "What's wrong Iya? Where is that confidence you had?"

Lightly panting, Iya stared at the bone demon. "_In his transformed state, he's not only faster, but much stronger. Those attacks he made, they were close, but I managed to avoid them, but just barely. From here on in, I'm going to have to be more careful. I want to still save him, but I don't know if I can or not. At this rate, I'll be killed if I keep this up._"

Catching his breath, he finally replied "I still plan on winning, but I wish you would listen to reason."

"You are truly foolish." Kimimaro stated. "It is time I finish you and take these slaves back to my Masters."

Reaching up to behind his neck with his right hand, Kimimaro flinched in pain when a bone shaped handle slowly formed from the base of his neck. Lightly, he began tugging, dragging out a long bone with multiple vertebras on it. At long last, he pulled it completely out and whipped it to his right side, slinging some ooze off of it. The bone resembled a long cane, but it soon went lip, resembling a whip instead.

Looking at the weapon in Kimimaro's right hand with wide eyes, Iya lightly mumbled "You pulled your spine out?!"

Smirking while straightening up, Kimimaro smartly replied "Yes, this is one of my most powerful weapons. You're about to meet your demise Iya. Prepare for the afterlife."

Rushing forward, Kimimaro flung the whip at Iya, who didn't have time at all to react due that the whip had lengthened. It quickly curled around Iya's side and was about to snap around him tightly when he raised Ketsaiga in between it and his body. The whip clanked against the sword, but the remainder of it cut into Iya's flesh, making him grimace in pain. Wet, red crimson life force instantly sprang free from the wounds and began sliding down his body, but Iya tried to remain calm.

Chuckling smugly, Kimimaro slowly walked closer to Iya while his whip kept tight tension. "I'm surprised you managed to slide that sword in between yourself and my whip, but no matter. You're not so smug now, are you Iya?" he mocked. "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer long. I'm going to kill you soon enough."

Holding his left arm out, Kimimaro let out a light grunt while his arm began making a crackling sound. Slowly, white bone began forming over his arm, forming a large twisted cone shape that extended beyond his left arm by three feet and then three foot above his head. The bone formed along his arm till his elbow, which then separated from his body. The end of the top of the bone was jagged and had several petal like designs near the top of it.

Pointing the large spear like bone at Iya, Kimimaro smartly said "This is my strongest bone. It will bore right through you and your pathetic ice powers. Once I have done this, my Masters will be free at last from you, and I will have brought back two of their slaves."

Pulling the bone backwards, Kimimaro yelled out "FAREWELL IYA!"

Pushing the large bone spear forward, Kimimaro aimed straight for Iya, only to have his attack intercepted and pierce through Lilly instead, who let out a loud gasp of pain and a sickening sloshing sound.

Turning his attention to Lilly, Iya's eyes widened completely and he screamed "LILLY, NO!"

--

Watching the fight from the side of the clearing, Ichigo, Lilly, Kagome, and Orihime stared on in awe while Iya had taken advantage of the fight with Kimimaro with his speed and skills. The group was soon in shock when Iya lost his advantage upon Kimimaro transforming into his true demon form.

"No way someone can be that fast or strong!" Kagome stated with shock on his face.

Refusing to turn away, Lilly watched in horror when Kimimaro wrapped his spine whip around Iya. Iya had saved himself from being cut in half by using Ketsaiga to keep the whip away from part of his body, but the rest was being cut into by the bone whip.

"Iya, no…" Lilly mumbled in disbelief.

The group then watched in a bit of fright when Kimimaro formed his large cone shaped bone on his left arm.

"He can't defend against that!" Orihime pointed out worriedly.

Having had enough sitting and watching, Lilly made up her mind and raced towards the battle. The others shouted after her, but with Inuyasha unconscious and Ichigo unable to move quickly, and Orihime a bit exhausted herself, no one could stop her.

Rushing towards Iya with speed she didn't know she had, Lilly growled lowly. "_I won't let him die! He swore to protect me, and I swear here and now I'll protect him with my life too! If he died because of me, I could never forgive myself!_"

Reaching the battle, the only thing she could think to do was jump in the way, hoping Kimimaro would stop his attack and back down since she was one of the ones he wanted to capture. Her guess was wrong, for Kimimaro didn't have a chance to stop. The bone tore straight through her stomach and ripped right out of her back. All she could do was gasp in complete shock, then the pain hit, making her wince heavily and suddenly cough up a large puddle of blood. The thick slimy substance was leaking out of her broken body and onto the ground in a thick pool while she still stood on shaky feet.

Staring at Lilly with wide eyes, Iya screamed "LILLY, NO!"

Summoning all his strength, he poured it into Ketsaiga and yelled "Cold Wave!"

The sword instantly covered itself in ice and began releasing a cold frosty mist. Slowly, the bone whip surrounding Iya began to crackle loudly till suddenly it shattered at the point where the blade was touching it, freeing Iya completely.

Shocked at the loss of his whip and Lilly's desperate move, Kimimaro pulled his large bone out of her wound and backed ten feet away. Staring at the red crimson liquid on his bone, he frowned heavily.

"Master Kenshin will be most displeased with me for this." he lowly mumbled to himself.

Dropping Ketsaiga immediately when Kimimaro pulled back his bone, Iya caught Lilly before she could fall backwards onto the ground. Holding him in her arms, he could see the damage clearly. The wound was clear through her stomach and out her back.

"What were you thinking Lilly!? WHY, WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Iya screamed, knowing it was hurting her ears, but was somewhat furious and scared and didn't care.

Sadly smiling, she weakly mumbled "I had to protect you… If you had died for me, I could never forgive myself…"

Stopping to hack up some blood for a moment, she began to shiver lightly. "I feel cold…" she mindlessly muttered while half closing her eyes.

"Don't go to sleep!" Iya commanded.

Arriving at that moment was Kagome and Orihime, who each grimaced a bit at the sight of Lilly's injuries. "Lilly…" Kagome lightly murmured.

Turning to Orihime, Iya quickly asked "Can you heal her Orihime!?"

Scanning over the injury, Orihime finally nodded and replied softly "I can, but I have to treat her quickly. With that much blood loss, it may be too much for her body to sustain."

"Do what you must." Iya said with a firm voice. Shifting Lilly in his arms till she was in bridal style, he offered her to Kagome and said "Take her with you and keep the others back. Don't let anyone near this battle. Understand?"

Nodding lightly, Kagome took Lilly into her arms carefully, making sure not to disturb her wound any further. "What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to kill Kimimaro." Iya coldly stated while turning towards the bone demon. "Get going, now."

The two young women nodded and quickly made their way towards where the others were. Being alone again, Iya picked Ketsaiga up and lowered his head, effectively hiding his eyes below his bangs. Without a word, he quietly sheathed the sword, causing it's transformation to reverse while sliding into it's sheath.

Watching Iya do this, Kimimaro smirked and tauntingly asked "Have you given up half breed? All because that bitch got in the way?"

Silence filled the air, making Kimimaro slightly frown. "What's wrong, did that neko steal your tongue?" he mocked.

"Shut your mouth." Iya coldly ground out. Slowly, he raised his head, revealing his eyes at last. They no longer were muddy brown, but were blue-green with blood red color in the background.

A bit surprised by Iya's change in demeanor and eye color, Kimimaro smirked and smugly said "You've lost control. You're losing complete control over your demon blood and are transforming into your full demon form, aren't you weakling?"

"No." Iya flatly remarked. "I've not transformed into my full demon form in for a very long time. Only a few times before have I ever lost complete control of myself, but this isn't going to be one of those times."

Glaring at Kimimaro, Iya coldly added "For harming Lilly, you will pay the ultimate price. I tried to be reasonable and offer you a way out, but you have refused me. With you harming Lilly, I see I can no longer hold back."

Iya softly let out a low feral growl, signaling his demonic aura to begin flaring out of his body. He ground his fangs together heavily and finally let out a loud howl. Thick white smoke instantly enveloped him, hiding his body completely. The cloud of smoke rose up into the air till it suddenly stopped and dissipated, revealing it's contents. From the smoke, a large black dog with fangs and claws roared loudly. Landing onto the ground with a heavy slam, the dog snarled at Kimimaro, who became a bit overcome with fear.

"He… he can transform into his full dog form!?" Kimimaro gasped in complete shock while watching the large black dog.

The dog opened it's jaws, allowing frosty air to come out. Bounding into the air, the dog flew up a hundred feet above Kimimaro, who could only look on in shock.

Regaining his composure, he glared at the dog and yelled "I will not die at the hands of some **half breed**!"

Letting out a loud roar, the dog began descending with it's jaws snapping open and shut rapidly. Crouching deeply, Kimimaro leapt into the air with his large cone shaped spear pushed out in front of his body.

"I will kill you!" he bellowed loudly while still flying upwards.

With only twenty feet between the two, the large black dog opened it's jaws and shot out a blast of icy air. The air struck the cone shaped bone, covering it in ice instantly and making Kimimaro gasp in shock. Meeting in mid-air, Kimimaro tried to slam the bone into the dog, only to have it shatter upon contact with the paw of the dog. With his bone gone, but his left arm intact, Kimimaro stared in complete shock, but was slammed to the ground hard before he could react by the dog's paw.

Kimimaro crashed into the ground with great force, making a five foot deep crater from the impact. The large black dog soon touched down about thirty feet away and snarled loudly. After a few moments, Kimimaro crawled out of the hole and fell onto his hands and knees before it.

Panting heavily, he glared at the black dog and deeply growled. Calling forth all of his power, he formed a spear like bone on each arm. "I WILL NOT BE BESTED BY A **FILTHY HALF BREED!**"

Rushing straight at the dog, Kimimaro let out a ferocious battle cry. The dog charged forward too and opened it's jaws. Another burst of frozen air was shot forward, striking Kimimaro's two bone weapons first, then his entire body. The burst slowly froze his entire body, making his form stop moving and fall to the ground and come to a skidding stop. The dog quietly padded to the fallen form and lowly growled out at the icy remains of Kimimaro. Lifting his large paw up, the dog slammed it hard onto the frozen statue, turning the statue into multiple pieces of ice.

Glaring at the multiple pieces, the dog snorted and slowly padded towards where Orihime and the others were. Arriving, the dog looked down at Lilly and let out a whimpering sound. Looking at the dog worriedly, Kagome backed away slowly, only to have Ichigo softly chuckle.

"Don't worry Kagome, he won't hurt you. After all, that's Iya in there still." he explained.

Looking up at the large black dog, Kagome softly asked "Iya, is that really you?"

Receiving a curt nod from the towering dog, Kagome softly sighed and relaxed a bit. "I wasn't sure if you were in control or not. Sorry for assuming you weren't." she apologetically said.

Iya didn't do a thing upon hearing her reply and looked back towards Lilly. With a low whimper, he nudged Orihime with his nose, who had her eyes closed and was calling forth her healing powers with the help of her two fairies. Letting out a low grunt, Orihime mumbled "Don't disturb me Iya. I need to concentrate."

Understanding, Iya padded off softly and collected his nearby discarded kimono and pants. Picking them up in his teeth, he walked off, leaving a bewildered Kagome behind.

"He'll be fine." Ichigo reassured her. "He needs to transform back and calm down. I'm pretty certain right now, he's very angry with himself. Just let him go blow off some steam."

Finally nodding, Kagome sat down beside of Inuyasha and carefully lifted his head into her lap. Softly stroking his silver hair, she looked down at him lovingly and sighed. Returning a glance at Lilly and Orihime, she softly whispered "Please don't die Lilly."

--

Lightly trekking up a stream he had found nearby, Iya quietly walked along. Finally finding a set of waterfalls that fed the stream, Iya sniffed the air and listened for any sounds to give away the position of any demons in the area. Finding none, he finally reverted back to his humanoid form.

Throwing his clothes on some rocks, he slowly walked into the pool beneath the waterfalls and dunked himself into the cool water. Coming up for air, he turned onto his back and glanced up at the sky.

One single thought was on his mind while laying there staring up. "_Lilly…_"

Closing his eyes, he felt as if he was reliving the moment of the attack. Kimimaro had pinned him down within the whip, but he was about to escape and dodge the attack. Out of nowhere, Lilly had intervened and took the attack head on.

Lowly growling, he remembered his reaction to the scent of her blood. It had made his blood boil and demand that the one that caused her pain be killed at that moment. He had been trying to save Kimimaro from the beginning of the fight, but throughout the course of the battle realized that in the end he would have to kill him. Still, he had tried to save him, knowing if he could, that they may gain a new and powerful ally. All that went away though the moment Lilly had taken the hit for him and ended up so badly injured. Seeing her like that was almost too much for him to bear and had caused him to give up on saving Kimimaro.

"_If she dies…_" he began in his mind, but roughly shook his head, sloshing the water around him. "_No, she won't die! She just can't!_"

Softly gasping at the words in his mind, he suddenly pondered why one simple human turned half demon was affecting him so badly. "_How is it that she's wormed her way into my heart this deep? I care for her more than I should._"

A voice in his head, belonging to Lady Shankoutetsu replayed and said "_I must say, the neko is a lovely one. Have you considered mating with her?_"

Trying to clear his head of his thoughts, Iya only heard another one, this one belonging to Momo, say in a casual comment "_You find her interesting and attractive enough to be a mate though, don't you?_"

Lightly growling, he sat up and dunked his head underwater. Coming up for air at long last, he shook his head violently. "Damn it, I don't have time for these thoughts."

"_You'd much rather go sit by Lilly's side._" a voice in his mind declared.

Heavily sighing, Iya looked down at his reflection in the water and finally dunked himself under it once more. Rising up out of the water, he slowly walked out and shook himself off. Grabbing his clothing, he slipped on his pants and retied his hair into it's usual ponytail. Dragging his two kimono tops to the water, he dunked them in and washed the blood off of each. Finishing, he rung both out and placed them back on.

Hurriedly, he ran back to where he had left the others to find Orihime still trying to heal Lilly. The hole had mostly closed up, except for a minor amount. Sweat was pouring off of Orihime's brow from the intense concentration that she was holding while still casting her spell.

Glancing around, Iya saw Inuyasha was still unconscious, with Kagome holding his head in her lap and softly stroking his hair. Ichigo was asleep nearby, seemingly trying to recoup some of his strength.

Looking up and seeing Iya had returned, Kagome sadly smiled. Weakly, he asked "Is she …?"

"I'm not sure. Orihime has been healing her since you left." Kagome sadly remarked.

Sighing, Iya walked over and sat down beside of Lilly and grabbed her empty hand and clasped his own around it. Her skin was cold, but he could feel some warmth still buried within. Slowly, her chest was rising and falling, with her breathing being shallow. The color in her face was pale, almost too pale.

"Will she be alright Orihime?" Iya asked with concern.

Still focusing on healing, Orihime didn't open her eyes, but replied softly "I think I got to her in time. She lost a lot of blood, which I can't fix, but I can help her along at least. Her wound is almost healed, so she just needs to rest. She maybe unconscious for a few days before she recovers enough to wake up."

Nodding softly, Iya quietly said "Thank you."

"Try not to worry too much. The hard part will be her recovery." she replied. "If her body can replenish the blood she lost, she'll be fine. I just hope she can do it."

"I understand." Iya mumbled.

Another thirty minutes passed by and finally Orihime finished up with Lilly. Letting out a sigh of relief, she stood up with a slight wobble and said "Just keep her still and let her rest. She should be fine in a few days. I've got to attend to the others for now."

Mutely nodding, Iya watched Orihime go to Inuyasha next. With her away, he moved closer to Lilly with her hand still in his own. Leaning closer to her face, he whispered "Stay strong and come back to us Lilly."

--

For two days straight, Lilly was in a deep healing sleep. Finally, on the second day, she slowly began to wake up. She first heard the sounds of nature surrounding her. Not long after that, her nose picked up the different scents. She quickly recognized one to be Iya's masculine scent. After a moment, she then noted that someone was holding her hand. Weakly cracking her eyes open, she saw a tired looking Iya staring down at her with a small smile.

"About time you woke up sleepy head." he warmly said.

Lightly smiling herself, she tried to sit up, but quickly regretted doing so. Her body ached, especially around her stomach. A hand quickly pushed her back down onto her back.

"Lilly, don't make sudden movements like that. I don't think you could rupture your wound, but still, I wouldn't try." Iya sternly admonished. Calming, he added gently "You've had a rough few days, so take it easy."

Frowning, she asked "Few days?"

"Yes, a few days. You've been asleep for two days straight." Iya replied.

Her brow furrowed and suddenly the memories of what had happened last in the battle replayed in her mind. The bone demon Iya had been fighting was about to jam his large cone like bone into Iya's body and she had got in the way and took the attack instead.

"Are you alright?" she ventured. "I mean, did that demon hurt you?"

Softly chuckling, Iya replied "No, he didn't harm me. It should be I who should be asking if you are alright. You took a rather hard hit."

Weakly chuckling, she said "I'm fine."

"Lilly…" Iya began. In a low whisper, he said "I'm sorry."

Looking at him with her emerald colored eyes, she asked "Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong."

"No, I did. I didn't protect you from Kimimaro. I was so wrapped up in the battle that I had no clue you had entered it." Iya admitted. With his ears drooping, he said "I'm truly sorry for that. I failed you, when you needed me to protect you the most. For that I'm truly sorry."

Seeing the sincerity in Iya's eyes, Lilly closed her own and felt hot tears start rolling down her cheeks. "Iya… I don't blame you at all. It's not your fault. I jumped into the situation not knowing what I could do, but I knew I had to protect you. I couldn't allow you to die because of me."

Opening her eyes once more, she looked deep within his muddy brown eyes and whispered "I could never forgive myself if you died because of me."

Using the pad of his thumb, Iya gently wiped away the tears falling down Lilly's cheeks and softly smiled. In a soft, warm voice, he said "I will do whatever it takes to save you Lilly, even if that does mean giving up my life. I vow I will save you, so please don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill."

Nodding slightly, she settled a bit. Gently, Iya lifted her into his lap and leaned her back up against his body while he leaned against the tree behind him. "Try and rest up for now Lilly. In another day or two, we'll have to move out, so please try and concentrate on regaining your strength." he quietly said.

Yawning, Lilly nodded once again and felt her entire body relax against Iya's. Feeling his warmth pressed against her back, she happily sighed, knowing she was safe. Absent mindedly, Iya sighed with contentment himself and wrapped his own arms around Lilly. The motion only made Lilly feel more relaxed and protected, and soon enough, she was fast asleep along with Iya.

--

Watching from a distance, Kagome and Orihime smirked at one another over the actions Iya had just shown. Since Lilly had been healed, Iya had been by her side. He had not left once to eat, drink, or sleep. The others had brought him food and water several times, but he had barely touched any of it. He had simply sat there, watching over Lilly silently, waiting for her to awaken.

"Feh, that wench finally woke up. At least that idiot brother of mine is asleep at long last." Inuyasha grumbled.

Glaring at Inuyasha, Kagome held her tongue from giving him a 'Sit' command. He had woken up late the day of the fight, but was extremely weak. Kagome forbid him from doing anything that night, which he obeyed while relaxing with his head in her lap. The next morning, he had awoken and felt much better, but was still a bit sore. Even after Orihime had healed him the day before, his body was sore from laying on the ground and from his wounds. Still, that didn't keep him getting up. By the end of the day, he was back to his usual grumpy self, making Kagome groan in irritation.

"Well, be thankful she woke up. After all, she lost a lot of blood." Orihime commented.

"Yeah, but we've fallen behind on our time. The longer it takes her to recover, the more time we'll lose." Ichigo pointed out.

After Lilly had been healed, Orihime had quickly turned to Ichigo, whose wounds were somewhat severe. Lilly had done a nice job at wrapping them and disinfecting them, but they were still painful to him. Using a bit of her remaining strength, Orihime had healed him, but didn't completely finish the job till the next morning after she had rested. Upon being healed, he had tried to begin his training, but quickly found he didn't have the energy to do it. Still, he fought on and managed to make it through a day of training.

Orihime had been most displeased by him doing that, but found she couldn't help but feel she had to heal him. Bit by bit, she had taken up concern for the quarter bobcat, but never said a word about it. She had heard stories about him from her own clan, how he was a disgrace, but from what she saw, he was possibly the strongest bobcat demon, quarter blood or not.

Lightly sighing once more, she remembered how amazed she was that morning when Ichigo showed her that he was completely healed. Even though he was a quarter blood bobcat demon, she wouldn't have guessed he'd recover as fast as he did. Half demons usually didn't recover so fast normally, but she guessed that Ichigo's demon blood was stronger than a normal half or quarter demons, which made no sense. Still, she didn't push or argue the point.

At the moment, the four were sitting quietly, with Ichigo back fresh from training, already showing off signs that he was slightly scratched up. The damage was minimal to him, but he had fresh cuts and scratches, but they did little to slow him down. Inuyasha had meanwhile taken to training Kagome. For now though, the two were on break, deciding to take it easy since they had been at it all morning.

The group of four all quieted down and relaxed some more under the shade tree that they had found, allowing Iya and Lilly some peace and quiet themselves.

--

After another two days, Lilly was finally strong enough to once more continue the trip towards the border of the Northern and Eastern Lands. Ichigo and Inuyasha had been rather irritable in the two days of waiting, but with the trip ready to finally resume, their moods seem to change for the better.

"At long last, we're going to go kill that bastard Kurama and free Kagome." Inuyasha bragged while slamming his one fist into his open palmed hand.

Lightly chuckling at Inuyasha's upbeat attitude, Iya nodded and said "That's the plan. Whichever we find first, we'll kill. I just hope we find both quickly. We need to find Kenshin a bit quicker since Lilly's time runs out before Kagome's."

Seeing Lilly flinch a bit at this declaration, Ichigo smugly cut in and said "Don't worry Lilly, once we find that rat bastard, I'll cut him down. Me and him have a score to settle, and I think it's about time I collected on that debt."

"Alright…" Lilly softly replied.

Seeing the group was ready, Iya said "Let's get going. We have a lot of time to make up for."

"Right!" the group enthusiastically yelled out.

With those words said, the group of six began their trek onwards towards the furthest Northern and Eastern Lands borders, with hopes of finding the two mages once they arrived.


	29. Chapter 29: Ultimate Defense, Pt 1

**Hey again everyone! Well, this week has been a decent one thus far. Work is fun and all like always. As for other stuff in real life, I'm set to visit my grandparents this weekend. My mom, sister (I think), and uncle all came in for Father's Day, so it should be a good time with them. Also, my aunt on my dad's side came in from Virginia, so good times all around.**

**Writing wise, things are good. I've moved into some more interesting parts on writing this story, in which my mate are wishing to read, hehe. As for my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, well, me and the coauthor have fallen behind, but since I'm so far ahead in this story, I'll be able to take some time in writing on **_**MtM**_**.**

**Ah yes, in writing news, I also came up with a small idea on a Naruto fic. Whether I ever get to it or not is yet to be determined, lol. I hope I will, but that's up in the air at the moment on when I'll get to it. I have this story to finish, along with **_**MtM**_**, then a whole slew of one-shots that I want to write, although I may not, lol, then there is a story I agreed to coauthor with my current coauthor and another author. So, I'll just have to see how things go.**

**Alright, moving along, it's time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks about the ending of that little arc. I thought it turned out pretty well myself, and my mate loved it as well. Yes, Iya and Lilly are a sweet pair, although like his brother, Iya won't admit his feelings for her seemingly. Must be a half demon thing, lol. Hmm, some kind of feelings between Ichigo and Orihime? Eh, you might be onto something there. Never know, hehe. Yes, Kagome restrained herself thankfully, lol. I know, it's kind of sad that the Inuyasha manga ends next week, but at the same time, I'm kind of happy. I only wish the anime would pick back up where it left off, but that'll probably not happen. It would be so nice to see it, but oh well. Wow, I'm you're sole source of new material, eh? I'll try to keep putting chapters out in a steady stream. Right now, I'm a bit ahead, but I'm going to try and get further ahead so I can post 2 a week. That's my goal, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: Yep, go team Iya! They did great, lol. Hmm, time to check in with Sesshomaru's group, perhaps. I know, quit being mysterious and just say what's going on, lol. True, Sesshomaru would just kill anything that got in his way, if he could. Thanks for the review!**

**Thanks both of you for your reviews. I'm very happy to see them constantly coming in, which makes working on this story a thrill. Ah yes, thanks for whoever it was that added this to their favs. I kind of lost track of who it was, lol. I know, I suck at names and just plain memory in general. But I do appreciate the reviews and adds to people's favs. So once more, thank you to all of you.**

**Well, I'm done for the day, so enjoy the weekend. Later!**

**Chapter 29**

Running along, Sesshomaru led his group onwards towards the farthest border of the Eastern and Southern Lands. At their current pace, they were a half a day away from the Southern Lands border. They had only left Iya and his group two days before, but they had made good progress on their trip thus far.

Sighing lightly, Miroku grumbled lowly to Sango "Sesshomaru sure is a slave driver… I feel like I have hardly slept at all."

"It might help if you tried to actually sleep at night." Sango wistfully remarked. "Ever since we mated, we hardly sleep at all…"

Smirking, Miroku responded "It's this cursed fox demon blood, I swear."

"Right…" Sango muttered.

"You know, you two could make this a more private conversation." Kohaku grumbled lowly. "After all, I may look like I'm older, but mentally, I'm still a kid!"

Seeing Sango's embarrassment, Miroku smirked and calmly replied "But what better a time to learn about the finer points of life Kohaku. After all, you could learn all about how it feels to be with a …"

Before he could finish his sentence, Miroku received a large wallop to the back of the head by a furiously blushing Sango. The smack didn't stop him from continuing to run, but it slowed him down nonetheless and caused a large lump to form on his head.

"Idiot…" Shippou muttered from Kohaku's shoulder, while Kirara, who was on his other shoulder, mewed.

Clenching her fist tightly, Sango threw a death glare at Miroku, who remained quiet and at the rear of the group. At the front, Ryo only chuckled at the actions of the two mates.

"They sure make this trip more interesting, eh Sesshomaru?" he commented.

"Hn."

Heavily sighing, Ryo shook his head slightly. Ever since the trip had begun, he had been unsuccessful in engaging Sesshomaru with any kind of conversation. He almost always got an answer of "Hn" or some other short answer, which irked him a bit. Even though the two hadn't spoken in nearly two and a half centuries, he had considered Sesshomaru a friend still, but making small talk with him was impossible.

"_I have a good mind to just give it up! The man has nothing he wishes to talk about with me!_"

Breaking out of his thoughts, Ryo noted Sesshomaru appeared to be ready to for their usual midday break. Not more than a minute later, the group came to a dead stop at a small clearing surrounded by a forest.

"We will leave in an hour." Sesshomaru informed the group. Turning towards the woods, he nodded towards Rin and softly said "Rin, come."

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin chirped and followed him into the woods.

Falling onto the soft grass, Kohaku softly sighed. Shippou and Kirara ran off into the meadow to play, while the remainder of the group took seats on the grass, with exception of Ryo.

"I don't suppose you all are going to eat lunch, are you?" he questioned.

Thinking for a moment, Miroku looked to Sango, who shook her head. Glancing at Kohaku and Shippou, he received another set of heads shaking. "I suppose not Ryo. Were you hungry?" Miroku asked.

"Not particularly. After all, full demons require little food. I just wondered if you all needed something to eat. I saw a few rabbits nearby is why." Ryo nonchalantly replied.

"I see. Thank you for the information." Miroku curtly said.

With a nod, the mage walked off towards a few nearby shade trees and sat down under one of them. Leaning up against it, he closed his eyes, allowing his body to rest and soon enough entered into a light sleep.

"So Kohaku, what do you plan to do once we cure everyone?" Miroku asked the young half fire demon.

Frowning for a moment, Kohaku replied "I haven't really thought about it. I know physically I'm not a kid anymore, but mentally I really am. I suppose I may find some sort of work. Anything not to do with demon slaying would be nice."

Sadly smiling at her brother, Sango warmly said "Kohaku, you can do whatever you like once we get free of these curses. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks sister…"

Smirking, Miroku added "Kohaku, you could go and seek out a mate also once we break this curse. Just think, you could have a woman…"

Miroku never got to finish his words due that Sango whacked him across the head with her Hiraikotsu. He instantly fell over onto the ground knocked out.

"YOU DAMN PERVERT, QUIT TRYING TO CORRUPT MY BROTHER!" Sango bellowed at the unconscious form.

Cracking an eye open, Ryo smirked and closed it once more. "_Those two most definitely make things much more interesting._"

Glaring at Miroku's fallen form, Sango stood up and grabbed her Hiraikotsu and stomped away. Sighing, Kohaku stood and left the unconscious Miroku on his own and moved to towards the shade trees where Ryo sat. Arriving at them, he sat down on the opposite side of the tree that Ryo leaned against. Closing his own eyes, Kohaku pushed all thoughts out of his mind and tried to rest.

Unfortunately for the young half fire demon, he couldn't. The question Miroku had asked was stuck in his mind. "_What will I do once we defeat these mages? I've not really thought about it. Like I told the others, I have no real plans. I guess I will need to think on it..._"

Pondering on that thought, he began running through the things he could possibly be once he had returned to a normal life. "_Since I'm stuck as a half demon, I suppose I could offer protection to a village. Or maybe if Sango decides to return to the Demon Slayer Village to rebuild, I could go with them._"

Sighing, he realized it was one of the few times he had thought of the village. Memories of the happy times flooded into his mind, but were soon taken over by his darker memories, ones of him killing his father and the rest of their friends on his first and last mission for the village. Then he remembered it was he that had nearly killed his own sister, multiple times. Shaking himself, he opened his eyes and felt himself fighting back tears.

"_I'm not the same! That was Naraku controlling me! Still... I don't wish to ever become a demon slayer again. Once we finish up with these mages, I may just wonder around the multiple lands, just to do what I can for people. I think I'd like that better than any other option I might have._"

Sighing slightly, he calmed down and closed his eyes once more, feeling himself slowly drifting off into a light nap.

--

Watching Kohaku off in the distance, Sango sighed and leaned up against a tree she had moved to. It was on the edge of the forest, thus giving her some personal room. Looking up, she saw Miroku staggering to where she sat. He sat down close to her, and a bit of guilt hit her, knowing she had possibly seriously injured him. Crawling over, she moved into his lap and leaned back up against him.

"That hurt…" Miroku grumbled.

Smirking, Sango nonchalantly replied "You deserved it though. Quit being such a pervert around my brother. He's having a tough enough time as it is without you making things more complicated."

"I suppose." he mumbled back. Noting how tense Sango was, he asked "What's wrong mate?"

Sadly smiling, she replied "I guess I'm just worried about Kohaku. I mean, everything that has been happening has been so hard on him. First he was controlled by Naraku and forced to kill our family and friends. Then Naraku forced him to continuously fight me over and over. Once he was freed from Naraku's control, he nearly died, but thanks to Lady Kikyo, he lives on. And now, he's been turned into a half fire demon and only has a short time before he might be transformed into an evil snake mage's slave."

Smelling the scent of salt, Miroku wrapped his arms tightly around Sango and buried his nose into her hair near her neck. "Sango, my dear, try not to worry for him. We will save him, I promise. Besides, Naraku is dead and your brother is free once more. We'll save him, along with ourselves, from the mages in time. Just have a little bit of faith."

Relaxing a bit, Sango sighed contently and fought back her tears. Calmly, she replied "You're right. I just have to hope for the best."

"That's right." Miroku whispered. Reaching around and kissing her neck, he smiled softly and said "Besides, one good thing has happened since this whole mess began. Me and you are mates now."

Smiling a bit, she nodded and happily sighed. "That seems like the only thing that has gone right thus far." she mumbled.

"Don't worry, we'll be freed from this curse. After all, if you remember, I was under a curse for several years myself, but I tried not to lose hope. And we can't lose hope now." he admonished.

Nodding her head once more, she kissed his hand and replied "I know. Just hold me for now. At least when I'm in your arms, I know I'm safe."

"I will always protect you, Sango, no matter what." Miroku whispered back.

With his words said, Sango relaxed completely and felt her mind begin to fall into a light sleep.

--

Waking due to the sounds of steps, Ryo glanced up in the direction he had heard them coming from. Sniffing the air, he frowned at the scent of blood and sand.

Standing up, he walked back into the clearing and spotted a young man with short, spiky red hair walking towards the group slowly. His skin was pale, with a red tattoo on his forehead in the symbol of love. The young man's eyes were a light blue color, but there were no pupils in them. His clothing consisted of a long maroon colored coat that stretched down to his ankles, but was split open from his waist down. Over his chest, he wore a brown harness with eight straps going to his back, and an extra going over his left shoulder. On his back, in the harness, was a large brown gourd, with a cork in the top of it. He wore black pants that went down to his calves, where long black socks reached up and went down to his covered sandals. The sandals only revealed his toes, but the remainder of his feet was covered.

Staring at the young man, Ryo sniffed the air and found that he was the source of the scent of blood and sand. Frowning, he glanced at the others. They were waking up at hearing the sound of the approaching footsteps. Guessing they thought it was Sesshomaru, he decided to alert them.

"We have company." he blandly remarked to the group. Noting that the fox kit and neko had not yet returned, he quickly scanned the field and saw them playing.

"Shippou, Kirara, get over here, now!" he sternly ordered.

Hearing the orders, the kit and neko bounded back over to the group, with Kirara bristling up at the approaching stranger.

"Easy Kirara…" Sango whispered, making the neko slightly calm down. Glancing at Shippou, she whispered "Shippou, get back so you don't get hurt."

"Right." Shippou called out while quickly moving back to where the trees were that the others had been leaning against.

With only fifteen feet between himself and the group, the young red headed man stopped and gave them a bland look. Crossing his arms, he stoically asked "I take it that you are the group of half demons that seek to kill The Thirteen?"

Stepping forward, Miroku was about to answer, when Ryo put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Staring at the young man, Ryo evenly said "We wish to defeat The Thirteen, yes."

"I cannot allow that to happen." the red haired young man replied.

Frowning, Ryo asked "Who are you, and what business do you have with us?"

"I am Gaara of the Desert. I have been sent here by The Thirteen to collect their four slaves. I was ordered to take them by any means necessary." Gaara steadily replied.

Clenching his fists, Ryo slightly growled and sharply said "I warn you now, leave while you can and you won't be harmed. Just vanish, and we'll not mention you at all to the mages."

"I have no fear of you." Gaara blandly remarked. "I was given an order, and I will succeed. Step aside and you may live, but fail to do that, I'll kill you without hesitation."

Clutching their weapons tightly, the four each glared at the young red head. After a moment of silence, and soft growls, Miroku spoke up. "We're not going with you. Tell the mages we don't belong to them, and never will!"

"I shall drag you back then." Gaara evenly commented.

Deciding he had had enough of this, Miroku rushed forward with his staff prepared to strike.

"MIROKU, NO!" Ryo cried out, but got no hint of Miroku listening.

Reaching Gaara, Miroku leapt into the air a little ways and swung his staff downwards at Gaara's head. Gaara only stood perfectly still, his body unmoving.

Without warning, the cork in the gourd on Gaara's back suddenly dissolved and became sand. Sand from within the gourd came rushing out and formed a small shield in front of Gaara's head, effectively taking the blow from Miroku's strike.

In complete shock, Miroku leapt backwards away from Gaara and stared at the red head with wide eyes. "Sand!?" he asked in disbelief.

Seeing Miroku had failed to hit Gaara, Sango swung her huge boomerang around and flung it at him, crying out "Hiraikotsu!"

Sailing across the field, the boomerang was aimed straight at Gaara's head, but once again, a wall of sand formed protectively around Gaara. The boomerang slammed into the wall of sand, but was repulsed and sent driving into the ground.

"Is that all?" Gaara irritably asked.

"He blocked Hiraikotsu with his sand…" Sango muttered in disbelief.

Growling lowly, Kohaku rushed forward with his chain scythe ready. Throwing the chain end at Gaara, Kohaku waited to see if it would make it through. Like the other attacks though, it was blocked by a wall of sand.

Softly grunting, Ryo ran forward and began making several high speed hand signs in front of his body. Coming to a stop, he took in a deep breath and mentally yelled "_Fire Style! Katon Goukakyuu!_"

Expelling his held breath, a huge ball of flames went rushing forward from his mouth and straight for Gaara. Eyeing the oncoming attack, the young red head stood perfectly still with his arms still crossed. A wall of sand formed before him, in which the fireball slammed into. The sand and fire battled it out till finally, a huge bank of smoke formed where the two attacks had collided. Slowly vanishing, it was apparent that the sand had won the fight due that the sand wall was still before Gaara. Gradually, the sand retracted and retreated to the gourd on his back.

"Are you all done yet?" Gaara asked with irritation in his voice.

Snarling, Miroku rushed forward and yelled "Not a chance!"

Swinging wide, Miroku tried to strike Gaara with his staff, only to hit a wall of sand that had come out of the gourd once more. Trying to pull back his staff, Miroku suddenly found it was stuck and wouldn't come loose. Sand began to slowly climb up his staff and was heading straight for his body.

Noting the approaching sand, Miroku softly growled and let go of his staff and tried to leap away, but found his feet were being held in place. Glancing down, he saw that sand was holding his feet to the ground. The sand apparently was coming up from the ground, making his eyes widen.

"MIROKU!" Sango yelled with worry. Drawing her sword quickly, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards him.

Seeing Sango's approaching figure out of the corner of his eye, Gaara unfolded his hands and turned a palm towards her. Sand instantly erupted from the ground in front of her figure, making her squeal in surprise. The sand quickly grabbed her feet and began crawling up her legs, holding her in place effectively.

"SISTER!" Kohaku screamed while rushing toward Sango and Miroku.

Hearing Kohaku's voice, Sango glanced over her shoulder and yelled "Stay back Kohaku, he'll get you too!"

"I don't give a damn! I'll save you and Miroku both!" Kohaku heatedly replied while swinging the chain end of his scythe wildly.

Without warning, a green laser whip suddenly struck out at Gaara, who at the last moment saw it coming. A barrier of sand like always formed to protect him, but the sudden intrusion made him lose his focus on Sango and Miroku. With his grip loosened, both quickly leapt away some distance.

"Are you alright Sango?" Miroku worriedly asked while holding her hand.

Nodding in reply, Sango began to say she was when she suddenly noticed Miroku was groping her butt. Closing her eyes and clenching her fist, she smacked him up side his head, yelling "YOU PERVERT, THIS IS NO TIME TO FEEL ME UP!"

Rubbing the side of his head where she had hit him, Miroku sheepishly said "It's the fox demon blood, I swear."

"Unlikely…" she huffed.

Noting Gaara was glancing up at a nearby tree, the two mates stopped arguing for a moment and saw that Sesshomaru, along with Rin in a nearby tree top, were staring down at the battle. Sesshomaru's laser whip was still hanging out of his finger, but he seemed to be intently staring at Gaara.

Leaping out of the tree and to the ground effortlessly, Sesshomaru landed five feet away from Gaara, who stared at the dog demon with emotionless eyes and received an equal unemotional stare.

"I take it that you are Lord Sesshomaru?" Gaara questioned, if not stated.

Staring indifferently at Gaara, Sesshomaru stoically replied "This Sesshomaru is Lord of the Western Lands. Were you sent by The Thirteen?"

"Yes." Gaara dryly remarked.

Keeping his usual unreadable mask on, Sesshomaru calmly commanded "Step aside."

"No." Gaara flatly replied with a challenging gleam in his eye.

Snorting with annoyance, Sesshomaru leapt backwards just as a claw shaped form of sand was about to grab hold of him. With a bit of safe distance between himself and Gaara, he released green laser whips from each of his two hands. Both whips struck out at the red headed young man, who remained perfectly still. A wall of sand quickly rose up in front of his body right when the whips were about to strike, effectively blocking the attacks.

Not ready to give up, Sesshomaru retracted his whips and vanished in a blur of speed. A moment later, he reappeared high above Gaara with both whips flung at the red head. On it's own, the sand seemed to realize the attack was coming and quickly shielded Gaara from the twin strikes, much to Sesshomaru's displeasure.

Landing back on the ground on one knee, Sesshomaru threw a sharp glare at Gaara, who looked at him indifferently. Standing back up and turning towards his target, Sesshomaru took hold of the hilt of his top sword and drew it. Vanishing in a blur once more, Sesshomaru's steps were light and he quickly reappeared behind Gaara. Swinging his sword, he attempted a one handed slash on the red head in the back, only to smash into a wall of sand once more.

"It's pointless to continue to try and hit me." Gaara dryly remarked. "The sand that I carry, it shields me. This is my ultimate defense, which will always hold."

Glaring at the sand that held his sword back, Sesshomaru leapt backwards and clutched his sword tightly. Staring at the sand that was now shrinking back and pouring back into the gourd, he looked for an opening, but realized the sand would act on it's own accord once more and protect Gaara from any attack he made.

Determined to not give up, Sesshomaru rushed forward and struck at the same spot as he had before with Bakusaiga. Again, the sand came pouring out of the gourd and formed a barrier at the spot where Sesshomaru was striking. With Bakusaiga clanging off the sand, he quickly vanished once more, appearing on Gaara's left side soon enough, only to slam his sword into the sand once more.

Again and again, Sesshomaru vanished and attacked at random places, but each time he did so, the sand would withstand the strike. Seemingly irked by this, Sesshomaru leapt backwards about ten feet and raised his arm with Bakusaiga in his hand. Slamming it downwards towards the ground, a blue claw like wave of energy was unleashed. The energy wave went racing straight for Gaara, who stared at it with no emotions.

A moment later, the wave of energy slammed into a wall of sand, causing a massive explosion, sending sand into the air. Slowly, the sand and dust dissipated, revealing a sphere of sand still protecting Gaara. Little by little, the sand crumbled to the ground, revealing the red head inside with a small smirk on his face.

"Impressive attack." Gaara commented. "Still, like I said before, your attacks cannot hurt me. I think it's time I ended this little skirmish."

Raising his right arm up till it was pointing to the sky with his palm up, Gaara emotionlessly said "Sand Rain."

Without warning, sand rose up into the air and slowly began falling down towards Sesshomaru, who looked at it with a passive look. He began to move, but suddenly realized he couldn't. Looking down, he saw sand had encased his feet, holding him fast to the same spot he was in.

"Sesshomaru!" Ryo called out with worry filling his voice.

Watching with wide eyes, Rin yelled "LORD SESSHOMARU!"

The sand continued to rain down, now sticking to Sesshomaru. He struggled a bit to free himself, only to finally become completely covered in sand. Reaching out towards the mound of sand, Gaara coldly smirked.

"Sand Coffin!" he yelled, causing the sand to harden a bit around Sesshomaru.

Rushing forward while making a series of hand signs, Ryo clenched his jaw and lowly growled. "_I'll never release this spell in time! Damn it, why didn't I help that idiot sooner!?_"

Closing his fist, Gaara emotionlessly cried out "Sand Burial!"

All at once, the sand suddenly hardened even more, seemingly squeezing it's contents into nothingness.

Eyes wide, Ryo stopped his run and the hand signs. His mouth simply fell open in complete shock at the sight before him. Falling to his knees, he looked away at long last towards the ground. "No… Sesshomaru!" he yelled.

Gasping at the sight of the compacted sand, Rin felt hot tears begin rolling down her cheeks. "Lord Sesshomaru… no, he can't be…" she whispered while tears continued to fall.

Clutching the hilt of Aiko, she leapt from her perch in the tree straight for Gaara while snarling. "YOU WILL DIE FOR KILLING LORD SESSHOMARU!" she yelled while hitting the ground with a heavy impact and drawing her sword.

Rushing forward, Rin lashed out at Gaara with her sword, only to hit the sand that had been protecting him earlier against Sesshomaru's attacks. Not ready to quit, she continued her attacks, slashing and stabbing at Gaara from all kinds of angles.

Gaara only stood still while Rin continued to attack him. His sand instantly protected him from each blow, allowing him to just smirk.

"Impulsive, aren't you?" he questioned.

Growling, Rin swung around with Aiko and was about to make a stabbing strike, but stopped mid-strike. A small smirk appeared on Rin's face and she suddenly vanished, making Gaara's eyes widen a fraction. Reappearing on his left side rapidly, she quickly slashed at him with great speed and actually struck his arm with her blade, making him gasp in pain.

Vanishing once more, Rin reappeared five feet away with a smirk still on her face. Her demeanor was completely different from how it had been a few minutes before, confusing everyone.

"What just happened?" Shippou asked.

Looking at Rin with a confused expression, Sango shook her head and mumbled "I'm not sure… It's like she suddenly got faster."

"Yeah… Like super fast." Miroku added while looking at the raven haired young woman with her sword pointed at the red head.

Staring at Rin, Ryo felt his jaw was open and closed it. "_How can she be that fast!? Half demons shouldn't be able to acquire the speed she has so easily, yet she seems to be effortlessly moving that fast._"

Glancing at the large pile of sand, Ryo suddenly remembered that Iya had mentioned that Sesshomaru had been personally training the girl. Throughout their group's trip, he had personally watched Sesshomaru and the young woman leave the others to train alone.

"_He taught her how to tap into her demonic powers. Sesshomaru, I wonder what else you taught her along the way..._" Ryo mused.

Hearing something, he glanced at the sand pile and realized the sound he had heard was coming from it. Shutting out all the other sounds around him, Ryo intently listened in the direction of the pile of sand and again heard a small sound. Eyes widening, Ryo realized what the sounds meant.

"_He's alive! How the hell he is, I don't know, but I have to get him out!_"

Seeing Gaara was distracted by the gash on his left arm, Ryo closed his eyes and began a series of hand signs in front of his body. Building up his power, his eyes snapped open and he turned towards the sand pile, shouting out "Water Style! Suiton Daibakufu!"

A ring of water instantly formed in front of Ryo and water rushed towards the center of the ring. Slowly, a vortex of water began building and went rushing forward at a very high pressure. The water wave slammed into the sand pile with tremendous force, blasting away at it's structure. Bit by bit, the sand was washed away from the pile, causing mud to form due to the mixture of sand and water. Finally, the sand was moved away enough to reveal a blue shimmering barrier that held the Dog Demon Lord within it. A few moments later, all of the sand was washed away and the barrier collapsed, allowing some of the water to splash onto the Demon Lord's face. With the Demon Lord freed, Ryo stopped the water.

Leaping into the air to put some distance between himself and Gaara, Sesshomaru landed and fell to one knee. Looking up at the sand demon, he threw a hard glare at the demon, who was still preoccupied with the gash on his left arm.

Throwing an icy glare at Ryo, Sesshomaru growled lowly and said "This Sesshomaru thought you only knew how to manipulate fire."

Smirking at the fact that he was being acknowledged, Ryo calmly replied "I know how to manipulate more than that. You have to remember, Lord Sesshomaru, that I've had over two-hundred and fifty years to train. In that time, I've become rather skilled."

"So it seems." Sesshomaru flatly remarked. Eyeing the situation, he saw Rin standing nearby with a small smirk on her face and Aiko pointed at the sand demon, who seemed in shock at the fact he had a gash on his arm.

Carefully, Rin backtracked her way towards where Sesshomaru was. Reaching him, she threw a glancing eye at him and asked "Lord Sesshomaru, are you alright?"

"Yes Rin." he curtly replied.

Softly smiling, Rin warmly said "I'm happy you're not hurt Lord Sesshomaru. When I saw the sand trap you, I was scared… But once I started attacking the sand demon, I heard you inside of the sand and knew you were alive."

"She knew this whole time he was still alive?" Kohaku quietly asked himself.

Staring at the Demon Lord, Sango softly asked aloud "But how did he do it?"

Looking at Sesshomaru also, Miroku frowned and replied "I'm not sure how he could have survived. It looked like he had a barrier around him when he was freed."

"Yeah, he had some kind of blue barrier around him." Shippou added, who had joined the pair trio.

Rin softly smiled at Sesshomaru once more, who glanced at her. Standing once more, he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, making her forget about Gaara mostly and look at the Demon Lord instead.

With a warm voice, Sesshomaru calmly said "You did well Rin."

Eyes widening, Rin smiled great big and excitedly asked "You mean it Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Hn."

Still smiling great big, she quickly refocused her attention on Gaara, who still had his hand clutched on his wound. Bringing his hand before his face, he stared at the small amount of crimson on his hand. "You… you wounded me!?" he asked as if in shock.

"That Sand Shield of yours is powerful, but not invincible." Rin informed. "I managed to outrun it. Like I said, your defenses are powerful, but they're slow. Anyone willing to put out the effort to move fast enough to dodge that shield can hit you."

Glancing at Sesshomaru, Ryo frowned. "_Does that mean he was just testing out Gaara's defenses before? He must have. There is no other reason for him to have allowed himself to be attacked like that. He must have known he could survive._"

Thinking back to the blue barrier that had been seen when he freed Sesshomaru, Ryo pondered on it for a moment. "_Where did that barrier come from... Wait, I know where! The Tenseiga is supposed to be able to project a barrier to shield it's master. Since Sesshomaru now has it in his possession, the sword must have protected him from the attack. Clever, if not reckless. If that barrier hadn't of held, Iya would be the new Lord of the Western Lands, which I'm sure would make him ever so happy._"


	30. Chapter 30: Ultimate Defense, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, this past weekend was cool. My dad, step mom, step brother, and my uncle, his wife, and their son headed out for Disney World. My mate and I could have went, but eh, we didn't want to go. Maybe in a year or two, or whenever we have kids perhaps, lol. At any rate, I got to see my aunt from Virginia, who was in last week. She was doing well, which was cool. I then got to see my mom, sister, her boyfriend, uncle, and grandparents also. Apparently, my sister is moving back this way, which is cool. Heh, one more person I know around at the least, hehe. Also, it's been decided that my mom, sister, and her boyfriend are going to the beach with me and my mate, which is awesome. I know my mate was apprehensive about being down there without anyone she knew, but now she'll have company, so happy day. Other than that, real life has been normal I suppose, other than me going out and feeding my dad's dogs (mine formerly) and checking on his horses.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a good bit done on this story, along with my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Heh, my mate is very excited about the part I'm writing on now and wants to read it, but won't till I finish the section. So much fun, lol.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**kattana: Yes, Sesshomaru seemingly has trained Rin rather well since she was the only one to manage to cut Gaara. LOL! Heh, yeah, maybe they'll kill Gaara this time together. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Yep, Rin is finally coming into her own and proving herself capable of fighting. Not bad for an orphan girl, eh? A Sesshy/Rin pairing? What gives you that idea? I mean, all the man said to her was he was proud of her. I'm unsure how that translates to pairing the two up. But who knows, maybe I let on too much and made that apparent. The pairings will become apparent, don't worry. Very cool about the plans to continue the anime. I'm downloading the last chapters (I hope they're the last) of the manga right now. Thanks for that PM btw, and for the review!**

**Thanks to both of you for your reviews, and to the person who added this story to their favs. I can never remember who it is, sadly… But I thank you for the add, and I thank both of you for your reviews. I do truly appreciate them.**

**Well, that's it for me this time around, although I will leave with this challenge. I have a question, and if anyone can answer it, I will post an extra chapter on Friday. Feel free to use Google or whatever to find it. I kind of hope you can think of it on your own, but if not, don't worry.**

**Ok, here is the question: What anime did Ryo of the Wildfire come from?**

**That's probably too easy a question, but oh well. I'm in a happy mood, so I'll just put that out there. Ok, I hope to see an answer this week. Either put it in your review or PM it to me. This is open to everyone, so please do feel free to let me know the answer. Like I said, if I get one this week, I'll post an extra chapter.**

**Alright, that's it for me. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 30**

Continuing to stare at the blood, Gaara finally clenched his fist tightly and glared at Rin and Sesshomaru. His eyes flashed a bright color of gold for a moment before he began a series of hand signs before his body. Finally slapping both hands together, he yelled "Sand Tsunami!"

Rising up before Gaara in the shape of a tidal wave was a wall of sand. It continued to rise higher and higher, till finally it began lurching forward towards Rin and Sesshomaru.

Rin could only stare in shock, while Sesshomaru quickly grabbed hold of her and leapt backwards. The sand suddenly began reaching out with clawed hands, trying to catch the pair, but was unsuccessful. Still, the sand wave moved forward, reaching out time after time, trying to grab hold of Sesshomaru, who had Rin still pulled up in his arms.

At long last, the sand finally took hold of one of Sesshomaru's leg, making his eyes widen a fraction. The sand claw quickly threw him towards the ground, but Sesshomaru was quick to throw Rin into the air, away from the sand.

"NO, LORD SESSHOMARU!" she screamed while flying through the air.

Below her, the dog demon lord was slammed time and time again by the sand to the ground till finally he was covered. Part of the forest that had been behind the pair was now destroyed, transforming the area into a desert wasteland.

Crouching down to one knee, Gaara slammed both palms into the sand at his feet, crying out "Final Sand Burial!"

All at once, all of the sand on the ground hardened, seemingly squeezing everything underneath of it to the ground, making everyone gasp in shock.

"He'll kill Sesshomaru with that much pressure!" Miroku exclaimed.

Growling lowly, Sango, seemingly had enough of watching, ran forward towards Gaara with a glare on her face. Pulling a seed out from behind her ear, she began pouring green demonic energy into it, transforming it from a seed to a rose. She then poured more power into the rose, changing it once more into a whip with several spikes.

Earlier, two days before, she had inadvertently discovered that like all silver foxes, she had power over plants, much like Kurama. She had accidentally discovered this when she and Miroku were having a small tiff like always. She was leaning against a tree and accidentally poured out some of her power into it, causing the roots to grab hold of Miroku and pin him to the ground.

After consulting with Ryo, an embarrassed Sango discovered that her power over plants was starting to awaken. He began training her on how to control her powers, and showed her how to create the famous Rose Whip that Kurama had always been seen using in battle. She was a quick study, and learned fast how to use the whip.

Still rushing forward, she lashed out with the whip at Gaara, who didn't move. The sand surrounding him automatically blocked the blow coming in at him. Glancing over at her, he mumbled "You best stop if you want to go back to your master with no injuries."

"Like hell I will!" Sango snarled and lashed out with her whip once more. Again, the sand blocked her attack, earning a low growl from her.

Watching his mate lash out at the sand demon, Miroku bit his lower lip and finally turned to Kirara and said "Take care of Shippou, Kirara."

Receiving a mew in reply, Miroku nodded and rushed forward towards the fight. Getting within range, he shifted his staff to his left hand and drew back his right. Green flames suddenly leapt to life within his palm.

Throwing the flames at Gaara, he yelled "Fox Fire!"

The green flames went sailing straight for Gaara, who caught them coming at him out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, the barrier of sand leapt up to protect him, stopping the flames from even touching his pale skin.

Turning an indifferent eye to Miroku, Gaara muttered "Stupid half breed."

Infuriated, Miroku continued throwing his green flames time after time, but with no success at causing any damage. The two half fox demons continued their attempts, but the sand continued to shield Gaara.

Watching his sister and her mate fight the red haired sand demon, Kohaku clenched his fist and rushed forward with flames licking his body. Without hesitation, he flung the chain end of his scythe towards the sand demon, whose sand only deflected the attack. Getting closer, Kohaku tried time and time again, following the lead that his sister and his sister's mate were setting.

Witnessing the three half demons that were encircling Gaara and constantly moving, Ryo smirked at their tactics. "_They're using only ranged attacks. That way the sand doesn't have a good chance of going after them, plus with three of them, Gaara has to select one to attack before he give chase with his sand. While he's distracted, I bet they'll push the attack._"

Continuing on with their attacks, the three remained far enough away from Gaara to make sure his sand didn't grab them. Finally having had enough, Gaara had some of the sand within the newly created wasteland reach out for a nearby Kohaku.

Hearing the sand coming, Kohaku leapt backwards, only to be grabbed by the leg by a claw of sand. Staring at it with wide eyes, he slashed at it with his chain scythe, but was unsuccessful in severing the sand.

Noticing her brother was in trouble, Sango increased the ferocity of her attacks, striking at the sand demon's body more and more with her whip. Without warning, sand suddenly grabbed hold of her ankle, making her gasp in shock. She tried to pull free, but the sand held firmly.

Seeing his mate was in trouble, Miroku ran towards her, only to be caught in some sand as well. Trying his green flames, he threw them over and over at the sand, only to find it was unaffected.

Raising an arm and turning his palm out away from his body, Gaara coldly said "Sand Coffin!"

All three were suddenly encased in sand, with only their faces left visible. The three struggled to free themselves, but the heavy sand kept them from being released.

"Three down, one to go." the sand demon stated while turning towards Rin, who was still in pure shock over the loss of her mentor.

Realizing Gaara's eyes were upon her, Rin turned a scowl back towards Gaara. Rushing forward with Aiko in hand, she attempted to slash at the sand demon, whose sand protected him once more.

"You little fool, don't get so close!" Ryo called out while moving closer to the fight himself. "If you do, you'll get captured as well!"

Without warning, the sand in front of Ryo began shifting, making him back away quickly. It continued to chase after him, seemingly wanting to kill the dog mage.

"Damn it…" Ryo cursed lowly.

Deciding to ignore Ryo, Rin continued her assault, earning her a smirk from Gaara, who kept a watchful eye on her. Without warning, sand suddenly sprang up from the ground and wrapped itself around her ankle and left hand.

Licking his lips, the red haired sand demon darkly said "For giving me that slash, you shall pay. I was ordered to return you alive and with minimal injuries, but I don't think that Mage Ichimaru will mind if I break your ankle and wrist first.

Eyes widening, Rin began furiously struggling to free her appendages while Gaara simply held his right hand out towards her. Rapidly closing his hand into a fist, he yelled "Sand Burial!"

The sound of bone crunching instantly filled the air, making Rin scream out in agony from the pain inflicted upon her. The sand quickly released it's hold on her, allowing her to crumple to the ground. Hitting the hard sand below her, she let out a whimper and began cradling her broken wrist.

"YOU BASTARD, LEAVE HER ALONE!" Kohaku screamed with fire flashing in his eyes.

Sneering at Kohaku, Gaara turned towards Rin, who was still on the ground holding her wrist. Aiko laid near her, but she paid it no heed.

"You are defeated." Gaara flatly stated.

Glaring up at him, Rin felt hot tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. Pushing them back, she released her broken wrist and grabbed hold of Aiko once more. Using it like a crutch, she stood back up and balanced herself carefully on her good leg.

"I'm not beaten yet…" she growled out lowly. "I will kill you for what happened to Lord Sesshomaru!"

"This fight is over for you now." Gaara dryly remarked. "There is nothing a wounded wolf can do against me."

She was about to fire back a harsh comment when suddenly she noted the change in the air temperature. Glancing in the direction she felt the change, she saw the reason the temperature had changed.

In the pile of sand that contained the Kohaku, red-orange flames were licking the sand, crystallizing it into glass. Gaara quickly caught onto what was happening and his eyes slightly widened a fraction.

Letting out a thunderous roar, Kohaku ripped free of his entombment, effectively turning all the sand trapping him into glass, which easily shattered. Glaring at Gaara, he placed his chain scythe in the obi around his waist on his backside and then ran forward at incredible speed, with flames still surrounding his body.

"YOU BASTARD, I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled.

Approaching fast, he stretched out his right hand, shooting out a stream of searing hot flames. The sand instantly reacted, throwing up a wall, but the wall instantaneously become glass. Eyes widening, Gaara had no chance to prepare for when Kohaku's fist shot through the glass and struck him in the face with a hard right hand. The red haired sand demon was thrown ten feet away and rolled along on the ground for a moment.

Panting lightly, Kohaku glared in the direction of Gaara while Rin stared at the half fire demon in shock.

From a distance, Ryo watched in shock. "_His flames, they're hot enough to crystallize the sand now! How did he do it!? Did watching Rin get hurt cause him to tap into his demon nature?_"

"Rin, are you alright!?" Kohaku gruffly asked.

Snapping back to reality, Rin weakly nodded and hobbled lightly. "Yeah, I'll live, I suppose." she half heartedly joked.

"Just stay back, I'll handle this guy." Kohaku grunted out. In a softer tone, he added "I'm sorry about Lord Sesshomaru. I will avenge him, I swear."

Nodding, Rin felt tears beginning to slide down her face. In a light whimper, she said "Just don't get hurt, please."

"No worries. I'll kill him." Kohaku responded with a twinge of coldness in his voice.

Rushing forward, Kohaku's flames surrounding his body flared higher than they had before. He quickly arrived with only a few feet away from the sand demon and glared down at him.

"Get up and let's finish this." Kohaku coldly growled out.

Slowly moving off his stomach, Gaara turned his face towards Kohaku, revealing where he had been hit. Around the wound, there was sand falling to the ground along with small pieces of glass. A burn mark was easily seen on his now exposed skin, but the sand was quickly beginning to cover the mark, hiding it from view and restoring how his face had originally looked.

Standing up, the sand demon glared at Kohaku, who defiantly glared back at the red headed sand demon while flames continued to crackle around his body. Some of the sand around the sand demon began to move closer towards him, seemingly protecting him.

"You managed to hit me…" Gaara began in a cold voice. "No one other than that brat over there has harmed me. I know Mage Orochimaru would like to receive you unharmed, but for harming me, I'll break every bone in your body!"

Sand suddenly rose up from behind the sand demon and splashed over him like a wave, completely covering him. The sand slowly began to take a shape, forming a pair of clawed hands and a rather pudgy like body, and a head that had ears on top, golden eyes, and sharp fangs sticking out of his mouth. On his backside, a tail of sand formed that had a series of sand like scales.

Staring at a surprised Kohaku, Gaara's raspy voice asked "Are you afraid!?"

Gathering his courage, Kohaku steadied his mind and angrily snapped back "No, I'll still defeat you!"

Laughing darkly, the sand demon smirked. Swinging his clawed arm at Kohaku, he cried out "Sand Shuriken!"

Several four-pointed shuriken, made of sand, instantly went flying towards the young half fire demon. Lifting his hand so his palm faced the oncoming projectiles, Kohaku shot a stream of hot flames from his palm at the weapons. Each was hidden within the scorching flames, but instead of completely destroying them, they were turned to glass like the sand before. The glass projectiles continued on and struck a surprised Kohaku, who received multiple cuts and scratches. Blood oozed out from the wounds, with none being too serious, but enough to shock the young half fire demon.

Darkly chuckling, Gaara asked "Did that hurt boy? Are you afraid of me yet!?"

"No! I won't back down from you!" Kohaku fired back with flames still licking his body, effectively sealing off his wounds.

From a distance, Ryo got a chance to look up and saw the state the sand demon was currently in. Instantly, his eyes widened a fraction.

"_Oh hell, this is bad… He's beginning to transform. We have to kill him before he fully transforms!_" he decided in his mind.

Escaping the sand finally by leaping over it, Ryo began running towards the fight and commenced making a series of hand signs. He forced more of his demonic power into the spell he was preparing to launch, hoping that he could stop the sand demon in a single shot.

Nearing his target, Ryo cried out "Move Kohaku!"

Turning to see Ryo coming towards him with his hands performing signs, Kohaku realized he should listen and quickly took to the air. With the young half fire demon out of the way, Ryo finished the final sequence of signs.

"Fire Style! Katon Karyuu Endan!"

Taking a deep breath, Ryo spat a stream of fire out of his mouth that quickly took form of a raging flame shaped dragon. The dragon was wingless and looked much like a snake, but went rushing forward quickly at Gaara. Seeing the oncoming attack, the sand demon threw a shield of sand up quickly, but the flames raged around it, making him vanish completely.

"Did I get him?" Ryo asked with a touch of uncertainty while the flames continued raging around the area where the sand demon had stood.

After a few moments, the flames finally quelled, revealing a sphere of sand and glass where the sand demon had once stood. The sand sphere seemed to be unscathed from the intense flames.

Staring in shock at the sphere, Ryo was about to say something when suddenly the sphere exploded, sending debris and sand everywhere. The ground shook with tremendous force while a figure rose up above the area.

Leaping backwards, Ryo took shelter at the base of a few trees and glanced around the area. Nearby, he saw Kohaku, whose flames had quelled, setting the injured Rin down against a tree. Close by, Miroku and Sango, who had been freed from their sand prisons when the sphere exploded, landed with the fox kit and neko.

The group soon recovered and looked up into the air, seeing that the sand demon they had known was no more present, but a tall and rather large raccoon dog made of sand with blue demonic markings covering it's body and it's two ears appeared. It swished it's tail through the air, sending small gusts of wind each time with it's swinging.

"What happened to him!?" Sango asked with worry.

Grimly, Ryo spoke up, saying "He transformed into his full demon state."

"That's his full demon state!?" Miroku questioned with wide eyes.

Lightly chuckling, Ryo nodded and asked "Does that shock you? After all, both Iya and Sesshomaru can transform into an animal form, with each reaching tall heights."

Showing a small sign of shock at mention of Iya's name, Sango finally nodded and replied "I suppose so…"

A dark, loud chuckling forced the group to look upwards at the sand demon. The demon was sneering down at the group. "Pathetic fools, you have forced me to transform into my true form, but no matter. I will still take the four of you with me and return you to your masters."

Lowly growling, each of the four glared fiercely at the sand demon. Looking at each of their faces, Ryo saw the fierce determination to survive.

Without warning, the ground began to quake. Glancing around, the group watched for the source, along with the sand demon. Suddenly, shooting out of the ground was the dog demon lord. Dirt covered his pristine white clothing, but he appeared to be unharmed. Landing near the group, he glared up at the sand demon.

With shimmering eyes, Rin cried out "Lord Sesshomaru!"

Throwing a glance towards her, Sesshomaru curtly nodded, but began scowling when he noted how she held her left wrist and saw a bit of blood on it. Sniffing the air, the scent of her blood reached his nose. "Rin, were you harmed?" he questioned.

Looking away, Rin whispered "Yes…"

Curling his lips upwards, revealing his fangs, Sesshomaru growled deeply and began walking towards the towering sand demon. His eyes bled red, hiding his golden eyes now, but blue-green eyes took their place. Without warning, his red demonic aura flared to life, sending a demonic wind gusting around his body and ruffling his clothing.

Suddenly, a large cloud surrounded the Dog Demon Lord, causing his figure to vanish completely from all eyes. A moment later, ascending from the cloud was a huge white furred dog with sharp fangs, eyes with red corneas and blue-green irises, clawed feet, long ears, and a crescent moon on it's forehead. The dog soon came crashing down onto the ground and let out a loud howl. Barring it's fangs, the dog opened it's jaws, allowing some saliva to drip to the ground. Hitting the ground, the saliva caused the ground to sizzle and pop and crack due to the acid in it.

Darkly chuckling, the sand demon said "I see you've transformed Lord Sesshomaru. This will be an excellent opportunity to test my limits."

Snarling loudly, the white dog rushed forward with jaws snapping. The dog opened it's jaws once more and shot a blast of green acid at the sand demon. Raising it's arm, the sand demon used it's thick sand arm to block the acid, which sizzled instantly upon making contact with the arm.

Bringing it's arm down to look at it, the sand demon summoned more sand up from the ground to surround the wound. The sand soon covered where the acid was, stopping it effectively from eating away at the demon's body.

"You can't hurt me with that." the sand demon boasted.

Lowly growling, the white dog furiously charged the sand demon in a blur. Reaching the sand creature, the dog sank it's fangs deep into the neck of the sand demon, which didn't struggle. Reaching up, the sand demon grabbed hold of the white dog and pulled it off of it's neck and slashed the dog's left shoulder. The dog howled out in pain and struggled free and leapt a hundred feet away. Landing hard onto the ground, the dog whimpered lightly while holding it's left paw up off the ground. Blood ran down the dog's shoulder where it was torn open.

Staring up at the fight, Ryo bit his lip. "He can't win…" he murmured, gaining the others attention.

"Ryo, why haven't you transformed and joined the fight!?" Sango furiously asked the dog mage. "Sesshomaru can't win this one alone!"

Nodding, Miroku added "The two of you should be able to kill him."

"You're wrong." Ryo replied with a heavy sigh. "Even if I transformed into my true dog state, I wouldn't be enough to beat Gaara."

"Why not!? Two big dogs should be more than enough to beat a sand demon!" Shippou interjected.

Lightly chuckling, Ryo shook his head. "You don't understand. In my dog form, I can breathe fire, much like how Iya can use ice and Sesshomaru can use acid. Even though I could shoot flames at Gaara, it wouldn't stop him. His sand is too thick to completely crystallize him, thus fighting him in that form would be pointless."

Processing the information, the others remained quiet for a moment, except for Kohaku, who angrily snapped out "So we're to wait for Gaara to kill Sesshomaru and then come after us!? Or are we to flee, only to be caught again!?"

Smirking, Ryo replied "I never said we were running or waiting to be killed."

"Then what!? If there is no way to hurt him, what do you expect us to do!?" Kohaku heatedly asked.

Lightly chuckling, Ryo calmly said "To prepare to finish this battle."

"Huh?" Miroku asked, seemingly clueless to what Ryo meant.

"I intend to kill Gaara, but I'll need help. Kohaku, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou, I'll need all four of your guys' help. I have a plan, but for it to work, I need your cooperation." Ryo informed.

"What do you intend to do?" Sango asked with curiosity brimming.

Smirking while glancing back at the fight, Ryo calmly said "I intend to destroy Gaara, but to do it, I need the power each of you has to augment my own. Once I augment my own powers, I should be able to stop Gaara."

"How can we help?" Shippou asked. "I'm just a kid after all, and I don't have much power…"

Smiling softly, Ryo nodded and said "But you have Fox Fire, which if a fire type move, which will help me out."

Understanding, Shippou nodded and clenched his small fists, bravely saying "Ok, I get it. I'll do my best!"

Turning to Miroku and Kohaku, Ryo said "I want you two to feed me your fire powers also. I know Miroku, like Shippou, your Fox Fire isn't too powerful, but it should help out. Kohaku, I want you to use your hottest flames. I want all three of you giving me all you got, understand?"

"Yes!" the three replied.

Nodding, he turned to Sango and said "Sango, I know your power over nature isn't perfect, but I want you to try and have tree roots or any kind of flammable materials to sprout out of the ground and surround me. If we can get the flames hot enough, I should be able to end this fight."

"I understand. I'll do what I can." Sango solemnly remarked.

Smiling, Ryo replied "That's all I ask." Taking a deep breath, he lowly said "I only hope this works. It's been a long time since I've used this power, and I'm unsure if it's strong enough to stop Gaara, but I have to try something. If not, Sesshomaru may die, along with myself, Shippou, and Kirara while you four are taken captive. I will not allow that to happen."

Closing his eyes, Ryo began focusing his mind. "_I only hope I can still control this armor. It's been so long since I used it. I'm sure my former master is displeased that I've not used it in so long. Still, I've had no need to. But now, if I don't use this, it'll all be over._"

Concentrating, he opened his eyes, causing flames to begin surrounding him. His body glowed with a red demonic aura, causing him to vanish for a moment. The glow soon dimmed, revealing him to be wearing a red and white suit of body armor that was metallic. His hair floated behind him in the air, but soon fell down once the flames around his body extinguished.

"I'll tell you guys in a minute to fire, alright?" Ryo questioned without looking at the group.

"Yes!" the group of four answered.

Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled and nodded. Walking forward to where he thought he was far enough from the group, he glanced up at the battle between Sesshomaru and Gaara.

The large white dog, Sesshomaru, now had several small gashes on his body with blood pouring out. Each wound wasn't severe, but they were enough to make the dog lord more careful than before. His fur was stained red, but he ignored it. Racing forward, he attacked the sand demon once more, only to have the demon manage to sink down towards the ground. The sand demon then lunged upwards and slashed the dog across the gut, tearing open a large gash on the dog's underbelly. With a howl of pain, the dog fell to the ground, the stomach wound becoming more visible. After a moment, the dog glowed with a brilliant golden light, which soon vanished along with the dog. On the ground, the dog demon lord was seen, with blood pouring out of his body and multiple wounds, along with the nasty stomach wound.

Seeing his friend was now in trouble, Ryo closed his eyes and whispered in his mind "_Please, let this work._"

Opening his eyes, he grasped hold of his right wrist with his left and yelled out "Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!"

Glowing brightly with a blinding white light, a suit of red armor with twin swords on it's back appeared before Ryo, making the group slightly gasp in shock. The armor suddenly began sliding backwards towards him, but vanished in a flash of white light before hit could touch him.

Without warning, flames covered Ryo's body, hiding it from all. The flames soon receded, revealing Ryo still standing as he was, but now he was covered in red armor from head to toe. On his legs, thick armor covered his feet, shins, and calves while a battle skirt protected his hips and groin. A strong chest plate covered his chest, which wrapped around his body. On his shoulders were shoulder pads that stuck outwards in a forty-five degree angle. Attached to his back was a pair of swords in their sheaths. His head was covered by a helmet that had a pair of silver horns sticking out to each side.

Slightly smirking, he grabbed hold of each sword's hilt and drew them together. Pulling them to his side, he looked up at the huge sand demon, noting Gaara had taken much notice of him and was beginning to slowly walk towards the group.

Glancing over his shoulder at a bit of a shocked group, he smiled and said "Let's begin."

Waking from their shock, the four nodded and moved into position, with Kohaku, Shippou, and Miroku positioning directly behind Ryo. Closing his eyes, Kohaku called forth his fire powers and began to build up his strength. Sango meanwhile stood near Rin. Her right hand was glowing with green energy while her eyes were closed, seemingly concentrating on drawing out her full power.

Opening her eyes, Sango sank to the ground onto one knee and slammed her right hand into the sand. Concentrating still, she bit her lower lip, drawing some blood while she forced more of her power out.

With no warning, trees and roots began rising up out of the ground, encircling Ryo and cutting him off from the group.

Panting heavily, the green glow vanished from Sango's hand and she slumped over onto the ground. "That's all I have guys… It's up to you all…" she panted out before passing out.

Both Shippou and Miroku nodded at this, while Miroku threw a glance of concern at Sango. Deciding he had to focus on the task, he returned his vision to Shippou and nodded to him, who returned the nod. Each threw a hand up, with Shippou choosing his left and Miroku his right. Green flames sparked to life within each hand. Without hesitation, both pointed their palms at the wooded structure, each crying out "FOX FIRE!"

Streams of green flames went racing towards the wooded enclosure, setting it ablaze instantly. Both foxes continued pouring out their green flames, each with sweat forming on their brow.

Kohaku finally opened his eyes at long last, signifying that his fire powers were fully on the surface. Staring at the wooded enclosure, he took a deep breath and stretched both arms out to turn his palms towards it. Without a second though, he cried out "FLAME STORM!"

Hot streams of reddish-orange flames went streaming straight towards the wooden structure, immediately increasing the heat of the fire. The wooden structure instantly began roasting, sending out waves of heat to the entire group surrounding it. Still, the kit, half fox demon, and half fire demon continued to pour out their powers.

Sweat slid down all three demons' faces while they continued to feed the flames. Their powers were waning, but none of the three were ready to give up.

With little warning, the wood that surrounded Ryo suddenly vanished in a sea of flames, revealing Ryo with his swords at his side still and the flames encircling his body. His face was calm, seemingly serene.

Opening his eyes, he revealed calm blue eyes that held determination in them. Glancing over his shoulder at the others, he saw that they were nearly out of power.

"It's alright guys, you can stop now." he kindly commanded.

The three immediately broke off their attacks, with each falling to their knees, panting heavily. Shippou was unable to remain conscious and passed out on the ground while Miroku fell onto his hands. Kohaku still panted heavily as well, but remained sitting on his knees.

Softly smiling at the group, Ryo returned his vision to the oncoming sand demon. "Thank you guys for giving me your power. I swear to you, it won't go to waste." he vowed aloud.

Hardening his eyes, he brought his swords in front of his body and turned the hilts' ends towards one another. Pushing the ends together, the twin swords sealed together with a small flash of blue light. Swinging the now large lance to his right side, Ryo gripped it tightly and glared at the sand demon before him.

"It's a shame I have to kill you. I'll try to make this fast." he mumbled softly.

Closing his eyes, he began building more of his power up and merging it into his new lance weapon. The lance suddenly began to glow to life with a white blinding glow of power radiating through the blade.

Reopening his eyes, white swirls could be seen within them, dancing in them much like flames themselves. Leaping into the air, he lifted his lance above his head and twirled it, causing lightning to form around him along with the same white glow from the lance.

Stopping the lance, Ryo swung it downwards, screaming out "FLARE UP NOW!!"

A blade of white energy went racing forward towards Gaara, who only stood in his tracks, allowing the blade to slice through him. His golden eyes instantly widened upon feeling the blade slash through his body, cleaving the entire sand demon in half.

"Impossible…" he grunted out before his body completely split apart and sand poured out onto the ground in all directions from his innards.


	31. Chapter 31: Recovery

**Hello everyone! Well, yesterday was fun. I went over to my grandfather's (my dad's side, not my mom's) trailer yesterday and painted half his roof. I have a slight fear of heights to begin with, combined with a slight fear of falling off a ladder that I had to paint off of, which made things so much fun… But I got half his roof done. The other half was too tall for the ladder, so I'm going to have to use his truck to pain from it, but first we have to cut the hay along his trailer so we can take the truck up in there. At least I have a week or two reprieve to prepare for it. Heh, and tonight, I may have to go get my step mom's dog, which isn't too bad. The dog loves me, even though I constantly threaten to put it in a box (and did so once, hehe). It's just an odd dog, lol. It's like she never gets any attention till I come over, or at least she acts like that. So, fun fun.**

**I'm sure everyone is wondering why I'm posting an extra chapter. Well, I had put a challenge out Wednesday, but no one answered, so I'll answer it for you (I had actually decided to do an extra chapter this week due that it's my sister's birthday today, just as kind of a celebration thing, hehe). Ryo of the Wildfire is a character that came out of an anime called **_**Ronin Warriors**_**. That is where his armor powers come from, but his other spells, like his fire and water attacks, those are from **_**Naruto**_**. It's cool that no one answered though. I just thought I'd throw that out and see if anyone would, lol.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: No, I'm not trying to get you to flame me, and I think I know why you say that. If it's about the challenge thing, know this: whenever I throw a little challenge out to my readers, I almost always, regardless of anyone answering or not, place an extra chapter out. It's kind of a sign of good faith I suppose, that right or wrong, I'll be nice and still post a chapter. My second guess on the threat to flame is my lovely cliffhanger again, hehe. Sorry about those, but I find it builds up excitement usually. Heh, much like the manga for Inuyasha. Anyways, I hope one of those two are the issues, and I'm hoping you're not really angry. Thanks for the review regardless.**

**Kattana: LOL! Yeah, hopefully that's it, but if not, they're in real trouble when Gaara gets back up. Thanks for the review.**

**Thank you both for your reviews. I appreciated both of them, and I also thank my new add for my story to someone's favs. Sorry, I can't really remember who did it, but I do thank you for it. And if anyone has any comments, questions, etc, on this story, feel free to review or PM me about them. I'll gladly answer them the best I can without revealing the plot.**

**Anyways, I'm done for today, so till Monday, enjoy!**

**Chapter 31**

Panting heavily, Ryo stared at the remains of the sand demon and saw the sand retract away to the point that half of the sand demon's original form was seen. The other half was directly across from it, with each slightly buried in the sand.

Smirking, Ryo broke his lance apart into the two swords once more and sheathed them again onto his back. Closing his eyes for a moment and began to calm his mind. The armor reacted to this and vanished slowly, leaving him standing in his red and white body suit, which soon vanished as well and his normal mage robes returned. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes once more and turned around to the group and smiled.

"Thanks you guys. Without your help, I couldn't have beat him." he warmly remarked.

Gasping in shock at the destruction of the sand demon, Miroku weakly asked "How…"

"It's a long story, but here is the simple version." Ryo interrupted. "The armor I was wearing is known as the Armor of Wildfire. It was given to me by my Master, who trained me and four others on using our armor. My armor enhances my own natural ability of fire, thus giving me more power when using that element. At any rate, the reason I asked you guys to lend me your fire power is so I could absorb it, thus augmenting my powers even further than the armor alone could. I then used my augmented powers on my single attack, which is where I focus all the flame energy I had gathered into my lance. As you can see, the result is very powerful. The blade that is formed can cut through almost anything with scorching hot heat, heat that can only be found maybe in a volcano."

Both Kohaku and Miroku nodded their heads, seemingly understanding, making Ryo flash a fanged smile. "Glad you two get it. It's complicated, but I knew it was the only way to stop him."

"So, he's really dead?" Miroku weakly asked, his eyes already drooping.

Smirking, Ryo nodded and said "Yeah, he's dead. I can't sense his aura."

"Good…" Miroku mumbled before passing out and falling onto his stomach.

Lightly chuckling at him, Ryo walked over and gently lifted him up and grabbed the sleeping kit as well. Walking over to where Rin was leaned up against the tree, he set both down on the backside of the tree to rest. Turning to Sango, he quietly moved to her side and scooped her up in his arms and moved her to Miroku's side.

Hearing Kohaku slowly approach, he turned to the young man and said "Kohaku, please attend to Rin's wounds."

"I'll do the best that I can." Kohaku humbly replied.

Smiling weakly, Ryo nodded and threw Kohaku a small pouch of bandages, which he expertly caught. Turning, Ryo left the pair. Watching the retreating figure, Kohaku moved down to Rin's side. Sadly smiling, he gently touched her shoulder, saying "I'll do what I can and try to not make this painful."

Grimacing lightly, Rin nodded slightly and said "I'll try not to flinch or move."

Softly chuckling, he warmly smiled at her and remarked "You've been with Lord Sesshomaru for too long. You act much like him."

"I take that as a compliment, I suppose." Rin wistfully replied with a small smile.

Nodding, Kohaku set to work by first rolling her kimono's sleeve up to her shoulder carefully, making sure not to touch her badly bruised up arm. With great care, he helped her lay down flat onto the ground. Reaching into his kimono, he pulled a small bottle out that Kagome had given him, but gasped in surprise at the bottle. It was now a hulking heap of melted plastic, leaving no water within it at all.

Groaning, he lowered his head, muttering "Stupid flames…"

Hearing soft giggling, Kohaku glanced over to see it was Rin. She had an innocent smile on her face, showing her pure amusement at the troubled half fire demon.

"Think it's funny, eh?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Giggling once more, she replied "Well, it is. Who'd have thought you'd destroy Kagome's bottle inside of your robe of the fire rat."

Sighing heavily, he threw the bottle off to the side and mumbled "Just great, now I have to go get some water off of my sister or Miroku."

"Or you could get the water bottle I carry on me." Rin stated with a small smile.

A small shade of pink began to fill Kohaku's cheeks upon Rin saying her words, with him trying to think of what to say back. After a moment, he finally asked "Could you get it for me?"

Nodding, she reached into her kimono and pulled a small bottle out that held water. The clear bottle was completely full, thus giving Kohaku plenty to work with.

Taking hold of it, he smiled and said "Thank you."

Pulling a rag out of his kimono, he held it out before his body and carefully poured some water onto the rag. Closing his eyes, he summoned up his fire powers, but didn't ignite a flame. Instead, he had his hand begin to heat up, causing the rag to begin to release steam due to the water in it.

Finding the rag was finally ready, he released his powers and looked down at Rin. Quietly, he said "This may hurt. I'll try to be gentle as I can."

Weakly nodding, Rin braced herself for the pain. Carefully, Kohaku began wiping down her left arm. Gritting her teeth, Rin felt pain flare up and down her arm at her elbow joint, but kept quiet.

Seeing she was in great pain, he pulled away and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Rin…"

"It's alright…" she quietly replied. "It's not your fault. Just do what you can and don't worry, I'll be alright."

Nodding sadly, he poured a little more water onto the rag and heated it once more with his powers. Carefully as he could, he moved down to her left leg and gently washed it off, ridding it of blood and dirt. Again, Rin grit her teeth and clenched her right hand tightly till her claws dug into her skin.

Finishing with her leg, Kohaku looked up to see her hand was now bleeding. Sighing, he poured some more water onto the rag and heated it again. Moving to her other side, he took hold of her palm, making her look up at him in a bit of shock.

"You made yourself bleed when you were clenching your fist." he informed.

Softly giggling, Rin sighed and unclenched her palm for him, allowing him to wipe it down. Finishing, he grabbed the nearby bandages and glanced around the area.

Seeing him glancing around, she asked "What are you doing Kohaku?"

"I'm looking for something to use as a splint. The bones in your arm and leg were no doubt shattered, so I need something to splint it together so they'll grow back straight." he answered.

Understanding, Rin nodded and laid still while Kohaku got up and searched for a splint to use on her. Finding two decently sized sticks at last, he smiled and carved them up a bit better to fit. Satisfied, he returned to her side.

Carefully aligning the stick with her arm, Kohaku began to wrap a bandage around both the stick and her arm. Noting she had her eyes shut and clawing the ground, Kohaku realized Rin was in tremendous pain, but continued on with his task as gently as he could, hoping not to cause too much more pain.

Finally finishing with wrapping her arm, he asked "Rin, do you wish for me to stop so you can relax for a few moments?"

Opening her aqua colored eyes, her brow furrowed for a moment. Knowing what she maybe thinking, Kohaku was quick to smile and say "Sesshomaru won't think you're weak if you do."

"I want to be strong…" she whispered.

Sadly smiling at her, Kohaku ruffled her hair, earning him her full attention. "Rin, you are stronger than you think. You managed to hurt that sand demon on your own, with no help. You should be proud of your accomplishment. Feeling pain isn't a sign of weakness. It's just a sign that you're human… You know what I mean."

Lightly giggling, Rin nodded and closed her eyes, saying "I suppose I could use a few minutes, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead and rest Rin. I'll be here when you're ready"

--

Arriving at Sesshomaru's side, Ryo grimaced lightly at the sight. The dog demon laid on his side, with blood spilling out from numerous wounds. His most serious wound by far was his stomach one, but the one on his left shoulder was severe as well. The remainder of his body had numerous cuts, but nothing too serious.

"Sesshomaru?" Ryo questioned while pulling his bandages out of his robes, along with a few herbs.

Receiving no answer, his blue eyes hardened. "I know you're still alive Sesshomaru, and that you're not unconscious, so speak to me!" he growled out.

Slowly, the dog demon's eyes opened, revealing his golden orbs. Smiling at his friend, Ryo calmly pulled the bottle of water he had in his robes out and a cloth. Placing the two to the side, he slightly smirked.

"Good, at least you're cooperating with me." Ryo teased lightly. "We need to get your clothes off so I can clean those wounds."

Weakly, Sesshomaru indifferently said "This Sesshomaru shall heal on his own."

"Like hell you will!" Ryo roared back. "You're damn lucky to be alive as it is! That stomach wound will kill you if we don't treat it, so don't give me this crap that you'll heal on your own. You'll lose too much blood before your body can close up all of your wounds. Just let that damn pride of yours go for once and let me heal you."

Glaring at Ryo, Sesshomaru finally grunted out and moved onto his back. Deciding he had received his answer, Ryo began removing Sesshomaru's clothing as carefully as he could, making sure not to rip any of it so the dog demon would have something to wear once he healed.

Finally stripping Sesshomaru down to his loin cloth, Ryo grabbed Sesshomaru's top and placed it over his lower region, so to give the dog demon some sort of covering. Slipping his robes off, Ryo threw them to the side and grabbed the bottle of water he had. Pouring out some onto the rag he had, he heated it with his fire powers and gently applied it to Sesshomaru's stomach wound first.

The dog demon lord didn't make any movement when his wound was touched, only simply staring off in the opposite direction of Ryo. Seeing no reaction, Ryo quietly cleaned the wound, being mindful to not make it worse than it already was.

"Will this Sesshomaru live?"

Blinking in surprise at the question fact Sesshomaru had asked an actual question, Ryo looked over to see the impassive demon was still staring off in the opposite direction. Sighing, he brought the rag away from the wound and cleansed it with water and heated it once more.

"You may not make it…" Ryo seriously mumbled. "The wound is pretty bad, and the bleeding hasn't stopped just yet, plus you've lost a lot of blood already. I know how to stop it though, but I don't know if you're willing to let me do this."

With a voice as cool as ever, Sesshomaru asked "What do you have in mind?"

"I can heal wounds that are burned, but that's about it. Right now, I can't close your wounds, but I could sear them shut, then heal the seared up wound." Ryo informed.

Taking a moment to process the info Ryo had given him, Sesshomaru finally replied "Do what you must."

Nodding lightly, Ryo threw the cloth to the side and closed his eyes for a moment. At last, he was ready with flames crackling lightly in his right hand. "This will burn, but I'll try to make it fast." Ryo commented.

Receiving a small curt nod, Ryo nodded in return and placed his flaming hand onto Sesshomaru's stomach wound. The wound hissed from the sudden introduction of the flames, while the dog demon himself had his jaw clenched and eyes shut tightly.

Feeling the wound had endured enough heat, Ryo pulled back his hand, revealing a scorched shut wound. Steam still escaped the wound in small wisps, but it was for sure closed off, ceasing the blood.

"I'm going to close up your other wounds too." Ryo remarked, but received no confirmation.

Ignoring it, he set to work on closing up the wound on Sesshomaru's left shoulder to start with. Once closed, he moved on and seared shut all of the other minor wounds till all were closed. Sesshomaru's body now had multiple burns on it, but the bleeding had stopped.

Panting lightly, Ryo calmed his mind and body and raised his right hand. A green glow slowly began to cover it and he pressed it gently up against the scorched skin of the stomach wound. Pushing more power out, the green glow began to grow and cover Ryo's entire wrist. Meanwhile, the skin on Sesshomaru's stomach wound began to react, seemingly beginning to knit back together and cover a majority of the wound.

Seeing the skin had knitted shut, Ryo moved on towards the other wounds, slowly applying the same process to each. At long last, he had finished and was panting heavily by now.

Noting Sesshomaru was still barely awake, he reached over into his robes and pulled out a few seeds from a package. Grabbing his water bottle, he poured most of the water out till only a few drinks were left. Placing the seeds in it, he shook the bottle till the seeds changed the water's color to a light orange color.

Moving behind Sesshomaru's head, he gently began to sit the dog demon up. Seeing the demon lord was groggy, he smoothly said "Sesshomaru, I need you to drink this. It'll help put you into a healing sleep. You need to do this so you can recover quicker."

Understanding, the dog demon nodded. Surprised, Ryo moved the bottle to Sesshomaru's lips and watched the liquid pour into the demon's mouth. The dog demon lord drank every drop, leaving nothing in the bottle.

"Good. I'll move you soon to a more secure location, but for now, try and relax." Ryo commanded softly.

Lightly nodding while his eyes were growing heavy, Sesshomaru grunted out "Protect Rin…"

With his last words said, the demon lord fell into a deep sleep. Sighing out with relief, Ryo stood and mumbled "I will, Sesshomaru."

--

Slowly, the sun was sinking in the sky while the group of eight were preparing for dinner and settling in for the night.

A few hours had passed since both Sango and Miroku had passed out from exhaustion, but both had woken up eventually, and helped Ryo and Kohaku move the group into a more sheltered area. They now sat in the forest, with a large set of rocks nearby for protection. The group had found a small cave along the rocks and decided to place Rin in it while electing to leave Sesshomaru outside due that the cave wasn't big enough to hold over two people.

Kohaku had volunteered to stay with Rin when she had been taken into the cave, telling the group that he would stay with her till she had recovered. No one had any objections over this, leaving the young half fire and half wolf demons alone.

With the sun setting, Kohaku dipped the rag into the water he had and placed the rag over Rin's forehead. She had finally succumbed to sleep earlier that evening, allowing her body to try and recuperate from the serious wounds to her left arm and leg.

Smiling softly down at her, he watched her deeply breathing. Watching her sleeping, he remembered back when he had first met the carefree girl. She had been asleep then too when he first saw her.

Rin had been kidnapped by Kagura and sent to a small shack to be guarded by himself, with several demons outside standing guard as well. Kohaku had been told to keep her safe while Naraku dealt with Sesshomaru, hoping to absorb his demonic power and make himself far stronger than anyone else. The plan had hit a bump whenever Sango and the others, minus Inuyasha, had shown up at the shack and killed off the demons. In the meantime, Naraku had been badly wounded by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and commanded him through his jewel shard to take Rin away and lure the dog demon lord to himself. He had unwillingly done so, but in the end, Sesshomaru had spared him.

Kohaku met Sesshomaru's group several times after that, with almost each time Naraku pulling the strings. In the end, he had been freed from the spell Naraku had over him and joined the group once Kikyo had been killed. He protected Rin fiercely then, even staying with her when a hell hound had captured them. During this time, Kohaku saw how determined and dedicated Sesshomaru was to the small girl, who had wormed her way deep into the dog demon lord's heart. In the end though, he joined his sister's group to continue the fight with Naraku.

Glancing down at the girl, now young woman mostly in thanks to Ichimaru's spell. He couldn't help but smile at her, taking in her figure. In his mind, he had to admit she was rather beautiful as a half wolf demon, although he had always liked her human form as well. Her long dark hair made her aqua eyes seem even more mysterious. And how soft her skin was had surprised him.

Realizing he felt hot, Kohaku roughly shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts. "_Rin is Sesshomaru's ward! Are you insane to even think about her like that!? I must be losing my mind or have a death wish to even begin thinking things like that!_"

Sighing once more, he glanced back down at the young woman's face and saw how a few stray hairs were in her face. Instantly, he felt his skin getting hot once again and heavily sighed and shut his eyes tightly.

"_I have to keep my mind out of the gutter. I'm not Miroku after all! Even though I've aged, I can't let my body get the better of me._" he chided mentally.

Opening his eyes once more, he saw the last of the sunlight filtering through into the cave vanish. Without warning, Rin's body pulsated, making him jump back in response.

Looking closely at her body, he saw her stir. Her eyes instantly snapped open while she let out a strangled gasp of pain. "Rin!" he exclaimed and moved closer to her side.

She quieted a bit and bit her lower lip while whimpering while he took her hand within his own. Unsure of what to do, he began to ask something when her body pulsated again, this time twice in a row.

With no warning, her wolf ears began to ebb away while human ones formed on the side of her head. Her sharp fangs and claws slowly retracted, leaving her with normal human teeth and fingers. Clenching her eyes shut tightly, she moaned out in pain while her body continued to change. At long last, the transformation ended, leaving her panting hard.

"Rin?" he asked, looking down at her with worry in his voice.

Opening her eyes slowly, she revealed her chocolate orbs that showed she was in great pain at the moment. "It hurts so much…" she whimpered.

In complete shock, Kohaku thought for a moment till finally he came up with an explanation to what was happening to her. "It must be your human night…" he mumbled lowly.

"_Damn it, of all nights, why tonight!? She's injured already and being in human form won't allow her to heal very well!_" he grumbled within his mind.

Getting up and releasing her hand, he said "I'm going to get Ryo and see if he can do anything for you."

He began to leave when suddenly something clutched his hand. Turning to see it was Rin with her good hand, she shook her head. "No, I'll be fine." she said with a fake smile.

"Rin, you're in pain!" he exclaimed while she winced lightly. "There is no way I can let you suffer all night like that! You shouldn't have to!"

Lowly, she muttered "You don't understand. I have to be strong…"

Heavily sighing, Kohaku returned to her side and took a seat beside of Rin. Choosing his words carefully, he finally slowly said "Rin, everyone feels pain. Accepting help to get rid of it isn't a sign of weakness. True strength comes from depending on others and caring about them."

"But Lord Sesshomaru…"

"But nothing!" Kohaku was quick to quip. "Sesshomaru won't think any less of you for accepting help or taking medicine."

Smiling slightly, he mused aloud "After all, Sesshomaru is outside medicated as well."

Glancing down and seeing the frown on Rin's face, he smiled and said "Ryo medicated him so he will heal. His stomach wound was pretty serious, and he's lost a lot of blood from the battle. To make him rest, Ryo gave him some sleeping herbs. He'll recover in a few days, so don't worry."

Turning the conversation back towards her, he added "Now then, we need to get you some pain medicine."

"I still don't…"

"There is nothing to discuss." Kohaku sharply remarked. "Rin, I care about you, and I won't let you die due that you think Sesshomaru would disapprove of you taking medicine to help with the pain. So please, let me get you some medicine."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Rin sighed in defeat and nodded. She let go of Kohaku's hand, allowing him to stand up once more.

"I'll be right back!" he commented quickly while running out of the cave.

Sighing once more, Rin closed her eyes and realized she was laying on something soft. After a moment, she realized what it was when she pulled on a loose piece of the cloth up and opened her eyes to examine it, finding it was Kohaku's fire rat top.

Relaxing a bit more, she closed her eyes once more and softly smiled. "_He said he cares about me... I've never heard Kohaku say that before. What was that feeling in my stomach when he said it?_"

Softly smiling at the thought of the soft flutter in her heart, she pushed it to the back of her mind and strained to see if she could hear very well. Finding her hearing was dulled like it was before Ichimaru's attack, she heavily sighed.

"Oh well, it's just for the night…" she mumbled.

After a few minutes, Kohaku finally returned carrying a small bowel that smelled of food and a cup of what looked like some kind of hot liquid. Setting the two down, he gently helped Rin up into a sitting position, who cringed from the pain of moving. With a little effort, she had her back against the wall so she could lean back and rest while sitting up.

"Sorry that took so long. My sister had some stew ready and wanted me to bring it to you while Ryo boiled up some tea for you to drink. It has pain medicines in it and some sleeping herbs. He said it should help you get through the night." Kohaku explained.

Nodding in reply, Rin watched him set the stew into her lap. Picking up the spoon, she prepared to shovel some of the food into her mouth, but was having difficulty.

Seeing, it, Kohaku asked "You're naturally left handed, aren't you?"

"Yes…" she grumbled.

Slightly smiling, he grabbed the spoon away from her and picked the bowel up. Moving it close to her face, he said "I'll feed you then, that way you won't have so much trouble."

Looking away at the wall to her right, she mumbled "I'm sorry to be such a burden…"

"You're not." Kohaku sharply remarked. "Rin, everyone gets hurt, and when they do, their friends take care of them."

A small smile appeared on her face, making her turn back towards Kohaku. Warmly, she said "Thank you…"

"It's no trouble Rin. Now, you better eat. You need to build your strength back up."

"Alright." she said with resolve in her voice.

--

Waking up a bit before dawn, Kohaku yawned and glanced over at Rin. She was still sound asleep in her human form. Reaching over, he ran a hand through her silky black locks, enjoying the feel of it.

Realizing what he was doing, he pulled back and grumbled softly in his mind. "_Idiot! She wouldn't want to be with you! Look at all you've done to her and others. She could never accept someone like you. Not to mention, Sesshomaru would kill you for touching his ward!_"

Heavily sighing, he returned his gaze back down to her sleeping form. "_She's so beautiful though... Someone that beautiful deserves someone better than myself. There is too much blood on my hands to ever have a life with someone like her._"

Looking down at her once more, he couldn't help but warmly smile at her. He could feel the overwhelming urge to once more run his fingers through her silky black tresses, but pushed the thought out of his mind. Instead, he stood up and went to the mouth of the cave, looking out at the breaking of dawn.

Returning to her side, he sat down and waited for the sunrise. A few minutes later, light peeked into the cave, revealing the sun was rising. Instantly, Rin moaned and began her transformation.

Her fingers once more grew long claws, much like on her toes. Opening her mouth to moan once more, she revealed fangs. Her human ears slowly melted away into her body while two black wolf ears sprung up on top of her head once more.

At long last, the transformation was over and she weakly cracked her eyes open, revealing her still chocolate orbs. Slowly, they faded away, being replaced by aqua colored eyes.

"Rin?" he softly asked hesitantly.

Letting a light whimper out, she replied "I'm fine. It just hurt a little since my arm and leg hurt still."

Sadly smiling at her, Kohaku softly said "Your leg and arm should heal soon, hopefully. We have some time till we have to leave anyways. With Sesshomaru still injured, it'll take at least two or three days for him to heal up."

"I see…" Rin mumbled. "Will he be alright?"

Nodding in reply, he said "Ryo said he should recover. He just needs a bit of time, much like yourself, so no worrying, ok?"

"Ok…" she weakly mumbled.

Slightly smiling at her, he said "Now then, how about I get you some more medicine to help with that pain."

"Alright."

--

Walking with a bit of stiffness, Sesshomaru sniffed the air within the cave that Rin laid in. Kohaku was still with his ward, which made his mind slightly grumble. Since the day they had moved to this area, Kohaku had been with his ward. It wasn't that he didn't trust the boy, it was that he knew the boy was no longer that, nor was his ward just a girl any longer. They were a young man and woman now, and that did not bode well to him.

For nearly five years, he had protected his ward from multiple threats. When he had taken her in, he slowly developed feelings for the child and began to think of her as his daughter. Upon realizing this, he decided that he would not allow any harm to come to her, no matter what. Even after five years, he still kept to this silent vow.

But things were different now. Rin had been nearing an important age in her life, one in which Sesshomaru had known he would be tested truly, which was her teenage years. The girl was only twelve mentally, but thanks to the meddlesome mage, Ichimaru, she was now physically eighteen. Her body had developed rapidly, meaning she no longer was the sweet child that followed him around. She was now grown into a lovely young woman, and that fact bothered the demon lord.

Still, he swore to stick to his original vow, and had went as far as to begin training her to protect herself as well. She was strong, that much he had realized upon beginning in her training. Rin had quickly proven that her primary attribute was speed, which nearly equaled his own, if not surpassed it a small bit.

Seeing and knowing she had been in the previous battle though had angered him greatly, especially when the scent of her blood had reached him. He had never been one to lose his calm normally, even when dealing with Inuyasha or Naraku, but the fact that the sand demon had injured her had sent his demon blood boiling. Even when wounded badly during the battle, he had no concern for his own injuries, only a single thought of making the one that hurt Rin pay.

And now, he stood here, three days later after fully healing his own wounds, yet her leg and arm had not recovered completely. His body was stiff and sore, for his stomach wound still hurt a bit, along with his own shoulder wound, but neither were bad enough to keep him from traveling. Ryo though had convinced him to wait another day, but he knew time was running out for Rin, along with Inuyasha's pack.

Sniffing the air, his thoughts returned to Rin in the cave. She had been happy to see him earlier that day, saying she was glad to see him up and about at long last. He had felt a twinge of pain when he realized she had not yet healed, making him wish he had been the one to kill the sand demon for the millionth time. Still, he was thankful his ward would heal in time. It would take another few days, at the least, for her bones to completely knit back together neatly.

Thinking back, he realized that the group's time was running short. He remembered that when he had left Iya and his group, they had had twenty-two days to kill the mages. They had traveled for two days uninterrupted, but the battle with Gaara had forced them to heal for three days already. The next day would leave sixteen, which concerned the dog demon.

In his mind, the trip should have only taken only two weeks, if not less. Now, they only had sixteen days left, with nearly twelve days of traveling left, leaving them only four days possibly to search for the mages. With less time, that meant less chance that they'd find the mages, which worried Sesshomaru a bit. He tried not to let it weigh heavily on his mind, but it still was on it.

Hearing someone approaching, he glanced over to see it was Ryo. "How are you wounds?" he asked.

"This Sesshomaru's wounds are fine."

Smirking at the comment, Ryo replied "I see. Well, in any case, we should wait till tomorrow or the next day to travel. After all, Rin won't be able to walk till possibly the next day, if not tomorrow. We'll just have to see I suppose."

"Indeed." Sesshomaru dryly remarked.

Noting that the dog lord's attention wasn't on him, Ryo pondered what he was focusing on at the moment. Sniffing the air himself, he found the air filled with several things, one being Rin's scent along with Kohaku's. Both scents gave hints of happiness.

"_Now why the hell would he focus on them?_" Ryo pondered.

Thinking for another moment, it finally dawned on him that the dog demon was uncomfortable with the thought of the half fire demon with the young female half wolf demon. Smirking great big, he slyly said "You know, I wonder what those two did while you were asleep for three days."

Clenching his jaw, Sesshomaru remained quiet. "I mean, they were alone for a very long time, and none of us really checked in on them…" Ryo added.

"Do not insult this Sesshomaru's ward! If you slander her once more, this Sesshomaru shall cut you down where you stand!" Sesshomaru sharply remarked.

Bursting out loud laughing, Ryo hugged his gut from laughing so hard. "Sesshomaru, you are so easy to get riled up!" he declared.

Glaring at the dog mage, Sesshomaru walked off in a huff, infuriated on the inside, but refusing to show it on the outside, leaving Ryo to his laughter.

--

"Rin."

Looking up to see her lord, Rin smiled a fanged smile and politely said "Lord Sesshomaru."

"Are you ready to travel Rin?" he asked dryly.

Sighing, she shook her head. "I can't walk still. I tried to put weight on my left leg this morning when I woke up and still can't stand up."

Hiding her eyes below her bangs, she miserably added "I'm so sorry to be such a burden Lord Sesshomaru."

"Rin."

Hearing her name, she remained quiet. Suddenly, she felt her body being lifted into the air. Looking around, she saw that Sesshomaru had her in his arms, bridal style, making her gasp in surprise.

The pair emerged from the cave soon enough, with the others giving odd looks to Sesshomaru over what he was doing. Walking over to Kohaku, Sesshomaru said "Kohaku, you will carry Rin."

Beyond shocked, Kohaku was thinking of protesting, but part of his mind wanted to carry Rin after being with her the last few days. Deciding to obey, he nodded and kneeled down.

Shifting Rin, he carefully placed her onto Kohaku's back. She quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, being careful to not hurt her left one. Once her arms were secure, he grabbed hold of her legs, being extremely careful to not hold too much pressure on her left one.

With Rin on, he stood up and smiled. "Ready?" he asked.

Nodding, Rin smiled back and said "Yeah, I'm ready. Hopefully you won't have to carry me for too many days."

"As long as it takes Rin, I don't mind." he answered with a small smile and a hint of blush.

Hearing someone turn, the two saw that it was Sesshomaru. "Come, we are already behind in our travels. We will not stop till dark." Sesshomaru declared.

With that said, he took off, causing the group to quickly follow behind him obediently.


	32. Chapter 32: Passing By

**Hey everyone! This weekend was so tiring. First, Saturday, me and my mate went to do our grocery shopping in the morning. We eventually got home around 4 and had to take off once more to go help out in planning a church activity for kids then. Heh, we helped fill 900 water balloons, plus ready other things for the games. Then Sunday, we got up early to help setup the grounds for the games, which wasn't too hard. We finished at long last and went to service. After that, we ate and then the games began. It was pretty fun overall in the end. Once we finished up and left, I went to my grandparents, who were doing well for the most part. I finally got home last night at 9 and felt so exhausted. Heh, I don't feel too energetic today either, lol. But anyways, it's going to be another long week.**

**Writing wise, I'm still picking away at some of this story. I'm to a place where it's just hard to find time to write. And then there is my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, which I'm behind on. (/sighs\) I'll catch up sooner or later I'm sure.**

**Ok, moving along, it's time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Glad you liked the fact that this isn't a Rin and Sesshomaru pairing. Eh, sometimes I don't mind that pairing, but it is kind of odd I suppose, in a way. I know you'd have not flamed me for real, but I was just making sure, hehe. Heh, I figured the cliffhanger was why you were thinking of flaming, lol. It's cool about the challenge, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Alright, that's it for reviews. Thanks to you Mitsukai for it. I really appreciated it. Well, I'm done for this round. Things will be interesting from here on, I promise. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 32**

Standing on a large rock, Iya glanced down at the three young women below sitting on a rock by the stream's bank. Watching the three sitting on the rock, he softly smiled, knowing they were enjoying letting their feet soak in the cool, slow moving water.

Ichigo was nearby sitting under a tree with his eyes closed, while Inuyasha was not too far away, his senses still on high alert.

Laying down onto the rock, Iya closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat of the sun. The group had been running hard since the day before when Lilly had finally recovered enough to continue the trip. Enjoying the sun, he realized that he couldn't relax for too long.

"_If we keep moving at this pace, we'll arrive with only a day or two to search for Kenshin to save Lilly. I wish I had more time... I could transform and fly the group, but if I do that, I'll be exhausted. Staying in my dog form for another day would be hard, and I'd prefer not to do that again._"

Sighing, he opened his eyes and glanced up at the clouds. Sniffing the air, he picked up the scent of two demons approaching them at a very rapid pace. Taking in the two scents once more, he determined who the one was, but the other he was unsure of.

"_I should only suppose that the Lord of the Northern Lands would want to know why he had intruders in his land. Odd though that he's coming this soon. We've only been in his land for a few hours, and on the border at that._"

Pushing his thoughts aside, he stood up and began scanning the area. Sniffing the air once more, he determined that the two would arrive within the next few minutes. Noting Inuyasha and Ichigo were not facing the direction he was or on guard, Iya decided that they had not detected the two figures.

"_It figures Ichigo can't smell them. His sense of smell isn't as keen, plus he's only a quarter demon, meaning his abilities are already diminished. Still, it's odd Inuyasha hasn't picked up the two yet. I suppose his sense of smell is not as sharp as my own either._"

Sighing slightly, he took in the scents of the area once again. Finding the figures were approaching quickly, he softly smiled. Swiveling his ears, Iya listened carefully and heard the sound of feet pounding the ground. Hearing a growling sound, he glanced over to see it was Inuyasha.

"Damn, not that pest again…" Inuyasha muttered irritably.

Realizing that Inuyasha recognized the scents, Iya pondered what he meant by calling one of the two a pest. Not having time to ask, Iya saw two small whirlwinds appear out of the forest. They bypassed himself and Inuyasha and went straight down to where the girls sat.

The first whirlwind vanished instantly before the three young women, revealing a young man with black luster colored hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, aqua colored oval eyes, and pointed ears. He had a brown headband on his forehead, with several furs covering his body. The first set were on his shoulders, then two one each on each of his wrists that extended up to his elbows, a pair on each of his calves that ran down to his ankles, and finally a final one around his waist with a tail hanging down off the back of it. He had a sword in a black sheath on his left hip that had a red hilt, but it seemed somewhat unused. Covering his chest was a half dull grey and half black chest plate, which covered his back as well. His feet were bare, except for a small strip of white fabric that covered his arches.

Appearing out of the other whirlwind was a young woman with long red hair that was held in two ponytails that hung down to below her shoulders with purple flowers at where the ponytails were formed; green, almost aqua colored oval eyes, and a medium sized bust. She wore a white fur cape, two white wristbands, a white fur skirt, and two fur covers over her calves. Her feet were bare as well, with only a white strip in her arches. In her fur obi, she had a sword with a pink hilt and a black sheath. Her chest was covered by a mostly black chest plate, with pink at the top of it, that covered her entire chest, but revealed a bit of cleavage with two straps that went over her shoulders.

"Kagome!?" the young man asked, revealing his fangs when he asked with concern on his face.

Looking up in surprise, Kagome gasped and broke out into a bright smile. She quickly stood up and rushed forward, hugging the young man, saying cheerfully "Kouga!"

Both Lilly and Orihime stood up, with each smiling at the excitement in the female half dog was showing. Watching the wolf and half dog demon pull apart, the two decided to remain out of the way.

Smiling at Kagome, Kouga's expression suddenly changed to a confused look after glancing Kagome's body over. "What happened to you?" he asked with a touch of shock in his voice.

Hearing the young woman clear her throat beside of him, Kouga cringed lightly and rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. "Oh, Kagome, you remember Ayame, don't you?" he asked.

Smiling brightly, Kagome nodded and reached forward, embracing Ayame, who smiled upon getting a hug. Pulling back, Kagome warmly said "Of course I remember you Ayame. It's good to see you again."

Sensing a fast approaching presence, Kouga grabbed hold of Ayame and leapt backwards quickly, just in time to dodge a snarling Inuyasha. Sneering, Kouga smugly said "You're still too slow mutt."

"Damn it Kouga, stay the hell away from Kagome! What the hell do you want anyways!?" Inuyasha spat out.

"Good to see you too mutt face." Kouga smartly replied.

"Wait a moment Kouga!" Kagome chimed in while stepping out from behind Inuyasha with a look of irritation. "If you call Inuyasha a mutt, you're insulting me too!"

Looking a bit shocked, Kouga quickly shook his head and hurriedly said "No, I didn't mean to imply that I was calling you a mutt Kagome!"

"Then don't insult Inuyasha like that." Kagome replied evenly.

Before Kouga could answer, he felt a presence behind him, and heard the person say "Be mindful to show respect to one of the heirs to the Western Lands. After all, it's bad manners for a lord to be disrespectful to another lord."

Recognizing the voice, Kouga quickly turned to find Iya standing behind him with his arms folded over his chest and a smile on his face. "Lord Iya?" he questioned in surprise.

Nodding, Iya smiled and offered his hand, which Kouga accepted. "It's good to see you again, Lord Kouga."

"Hold on, you know Kouga?" Kagome asked with a touch of surprise in her voice.

Lightly chuckling, Kouga glanced back at Kagome and said "Yeah, me and Iya go way back. He left the Western Lands long before I became Lord of the Northern Lands."

Again surprised, Kagome exclaimed "You mean you are the Lord of the Northern Lands!?"

"That's right Kagome." Kouga confirmed while still facing Iya. "Been a long time Iya. What, maybe about fifty or sixty years?"

"Something like that. I had heard that you became Lord of the Northern Lands since that time. I give you my congratulations." Iya commented while bowing lightly.

A little flustered, Kouga waved him off and turned back towards Kagome, saying "It's nothing."

Noting two small puncture marks on Kouga's neck, Iya glanced over at his female companion and noted she too had two puncture marks. Chuckling, he warmly said "I see you finally settled down and mated."

Blushing furiously, Kouga returned to face Iya with a red face. "Uh, yeah… We mated a month ago."

Motioning Ayame forward to meet Iya, he said "Ayame, I'd like you to meet the half brother of the current Lord of the Western Lands, Iya Taisho. Iya, this is my mate, Ayame."

Bowing formally to one another, Iya smiled at Ayame and took her hand in his own and kissed it, earning a small glare from Kouga. "It is a pleasure to meet the Lady of the Northern Lands."

Blushing lightly, Ayame smiled back and said "It's nice to meet you too, Lord Iya."

"Excuse me wolf, but what do you want!?" Inuyasha butted in.

"Inuyasha, mind your manners." Kagome warned.

Glaring at Kouga, Inuyasha grunted out "Why bother, that fleabag is nothing but a pain in the ass. All he has is a title."

"Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome ground out with much irritation, sending Inuyasha flying to the ground, planting his face into the rock. Upon hitting the rock, he yelped out in pain, but received no sympathy.

Sighing, Iya said "Kouga, Ayame, why don't we reconvene on the rock above us and we can get introductions over, and explain what's going on."

"Sounds good to me." Kouga confirmed with a nod.

--

Once introductions had been given and explanations of what had happened to Kagome and Lilly were made clear, the group quieted.

"So, you six are headed up to the furthest border of the Northern and Eastern Lands, eh?" Kouga asked with his arms crossed over his chest.

Nodding in reply, Iya calmly said "We are. I would have went and asked permission from you to travel over your lands, but I figured knowing you, if you caught my scent, you'd probably either come after me or ignore me. You know I'm no threat to you."

"But of course. The Northern Lands and the Western Lands have always had a good relationship and been allies for years." Kouga remarked. "I would never question why an ally is in my lands, although it did make me curious, that's all. Plus I picked up Kagome and Inutrasha's scent."

Growling lowly, Inuyasha was about to fire back when Iya threw him a sharp glare and harshly said "Kouga, I realize you are a lord, but please do show some respect for my younger brother. He himself is an heir to the Western Lands, much like myself. To disrespect him is to disrespect me, and you know you don't want to disrespect me, now do you?"

Biting his lower lip, Kouga sighed and replied "No, I do not wish to insult you. I'll try to keep my insults held back."

"Good." Iya remarked with a small smile. "Now then, Lord Kouga, do we have permission to continue traveling through your lands?"

Snorting, Kouga replied "Of course you six can travel through my lands. Those mages are a pain in the ass, and I'd be more than happy for you guys to get rid of them."

Standing up and bowing, Iya said "Thank you Lord Kouga."

Quickly standing himself, Kouga smirked and said "Still formal as ever. That's one thing that never changes about you."

"Heh, if I could forgo the formalities, I would, but father taught me to be formal, so it's stuck with me over the years." Iya responded with a small smile while the others all stood up.

Nodding, Kouga frowned for a moment and said "I'm not sure if Yomi will allow you into his lands though. He's been rather difficult to get anything done with anymore. He's just as opportunistic as ever."

"I see. Well, I intend to stay on the Northern Lands side of the border anyways, unless the mages cross over into his lands, in which I will track them down through." Iya informed.

"I see." Kouga responded thoughtfully.

Smiling warmly, Iya said "Lord Kouga, it has been a pleasure to see you again, but we must continue on with our journey."

Nodding in reply, Kouga flashed a smile and replied "I wish you luck. Make sure you save them, especially Kagome."

Getting a warning growl from his mate, as well as Inuyasha, Kouga weakly smiled and said "But we must be off too."

Glancing at Kagome, he brightly smiled and said "Goodbye Kagome, and good luck."

With that said, Kouga quickly vanished in a whirlwind before his mate or Inuyasha could growl or say anything to him. Sighing, Ayame smiled and said "Goodbye Kagome, and good luck on your journey. Good luck to all of you."

Upon saying her words, she turned and ran off too, forming a small whirlwind around herself before vanishing completely, leaving the group of six behind.

"Damn that Kouga…" Inuyasha grumbled lowly.

Sighing, Kagome turned to him and said "You shouldn't let him get under your skin like that. He means well."

"Means well!?" Inuyasha asked with anger rising in his voice. "That fucking bastard is still wants to be with you! Couldn't you see it!?"

Temper flaring, Kagome fired back "Quit insulting him Inuyasha! Kouga stopped insulting you while he was here, so you shouldn't insult him when he's not here! And as for him liking me, he knows I don't like him. He's just concerned was all!"

"Concerned!? Feh, he has feelings for you still! You saw how he acted when he was around you! I bet that bastard would drop Ayame faster than…"

Vein popping out of her head, Kagome screamed out "SIT BOY!"

Instantly, Inuyasha plummeted into the rock, smashing his face into it. The spell soon wore off and he stood quickly, anger filling his face.

"KAGOME…" he began, but didn't get to finish his words. "YOU JERK, SIT BOY! SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT BOY!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs.

The first command slammed Inuyasha back into the rock face first, but with each subduing command, he sank deeper and deeper into the rock, till finally a part of the rock began to break off with the last command.

Chest rising and falling fast and her hands shaking in anger, Kagome stormed off into the forest, leaving the group behind, along with Inuyasha, who groaned out in pain while slowly getting back up out of his small hole.

"Damn that wench!" he snarled and began to go after her, but stopped when he heard a popping sound. Falling to the ground, he held the small of his back and moaned lightly.

Smirking at the situation, Ichigo said "You can't buy entertainment like that."

Rolling his eyes at Ichigo, Iya heavily sighed and said "Stay with Inuyasha you three. Orihime, maybe you can heal his back, if you would. I'll go talk with Kagome."

The two nodded in reply while Iya walked off into the forest, following the scent of the miko turned half demon. Walking along at a slow pace, he soon found the female half dog demon sitting by the same stream the group had been near. Sniffing the air, he found the scent of salt coming from her, and could also tell by her scent that she was most definitely sad.

Walking over to where she sat, he sat down himself beside of her, looking out at the water. She said nothing, just sobbed lightly.

"He's such a jerk." she mumbled lowly between sobs.

Staying quiet, Iya sat looking at the water till he felt something lay onto his shoulder and felt wetness soaking through into his kimono top. Knowing it was Kagome, he reached over and patted her on the head gently.

"There, there Kagome. He's just being protective of you." Iya soothingly said.

Straightening quickly, she turned towards him, yelling "If he wants to protect me so much, why does he do nothing but harm me! He knows I like Kouga as a friend, and only a friend! For crying out loud, Kouga is mated! I have no interest in him, and Inuyasha knows it!"

Sighing lightly, Iya stood and turned away, walking to a nearby tree. After a moment, he finally asked with his back still to Kagome "He cares deeply about you Kagome, you know that, right?"

Blushing lightly, Kagome slightly nodded, but quickly grew angry again and fired back with "I know, but he never shows it! That's why I'm so mad at him right now. Kouga acted decently around him after you asked for no more insults. Once Kouga left, Inuyasha hurled insult after insult at him. I can't stand it that he's so pigheaded that he thinks I like Kouga! I never liked Kouga in the first place, so why he thinks I do, I don't know!"

Thinking for a moment, Iya finally asked "Tell me Kagome, how did you feel when Kikyo was around? Did it make you jealous?"

Throwing a glare at Iya's back that could kill, Kagome snapped back "I didn't like Kikyo! She wanted to take Inuyasha away with her to Hell. I was jealous, but I realized that she had done something for Inuyasha that I could not, so I finally vowed to just stay by Inuyasha's side…"

Mumbling the last part, Kagome realized what Iya was getting at. "_I was jealous and bitter towards Kikyo, much like Inuyasha is jealous and bitter towards Kouga. Kouga wished to be with me, while Inuyasha wanted to be by my side. I felt the same about Kikyo and finally vowed to him that I would stay by his side. Inuyasha has never said it to me, but now I can see it. He wishes to be by my side too._"

"I understand now what you're saying Iya. Even though Inuyasha has never said it to me, he's always wanted to be by my side, much like I promised him I would be by his. Seeing Kouga trying to worm his way in, he did the only thing he could, which is try and push Kouga away."

Smiling slightly, she added "Thank you Iya for helping me realize that."

Turning around to face the happier former miko, Iya lightly smiled and replied "Think nothing of it. Don't let Inuyasha's brash attitude get you down. He cares a lot about you obviously if he's willing to always stay by your side. Don't lose sight of that."

"I won't." Kagome replied.

--

Returning to the group, Iya and Kagome found a fuming Inuyasha sitting in a tree. With a light sigh, Kagome walked over towards the hanyou, knowing he knew she was underneath the tree.

"Inuyasha, can we speak?" she asked softly.

Ignoring her, he stood up and irritably said "Iya, you ready to go yet!?"

Frowning at his little brother, Iya softly sighed and said "Yes, I'm ready. Let's get going."

Leaping out of the tree to in front of Iya, Inuyasha grunted out "Good."

Feeling hurt by Inuyasha's actions, Kagome looked down at the ground and away from the group. Seeing this action, Lilly walked over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, whispering lowly "Just let him cool off."

Nodding weakly, Kagome fell in line beside of Lilly while Inuyasha stayed near Iya, with Ichigo and Orihime assuming the middle positions. Together, the six began running off parallel to the stream in a northeast direction.

--

After running for hours on end till only two hours of light for the day was left, the group broke formation and set up camp. Once they stopped, Inuyasha instantly walked off into the forest, leaving Kagome a bit a gasped that he left without saying a word.

Deciding to keep the situation under control, Iya suggested the group do their training, which Kagome agreed to. Ichigo participated to help Kagome, leaving Iya and Lilly to train while Orihime prepared camp.

After nearly an hour and a half, the group stopped practicing with Iya deciding to go hunt and Lilly going with him. Ichigo passed on dinner, saying he would get something much later if he got hungry, that for now he was going to go train. Being left with Orihime, Kagome sighed heavily while sitting on a log that had been dragged into the camp.

Seeing the glum look on Kagome's face, Orihime sadly smiled and suggestively said "Kagome, why don't you go look for him?"

Sitting in silence for a few minutes, Kagome finally said "I suppose I should. He's been so cold and distant today. Did I make him that mad?"

"I think he wasn't as mad about the subduing commands as he was that you ran off from him and defended Kouga." Orihime commented. Lightly smiling, she said "Go on and talk with him. I'll cover for you if the others ask."

Flashing a fanged smile, Kagome nodded and stood up. Turning towards the bobcat mage, she said "Thank you Orihime."

"It's no problem. Now go on."

Nodding appreciatively, Kagome walked off into the forest, finding Inuyasha's scent quickly and began following it.

--

Sitting in a tree several miles away from the group, Inuyasha sighed while watching the sun slowly going down. Leaning back against the tree, he closed his eyes and allowed his senses to spread out over the forest. He could smell and hear many things, but he sorted out what was what. Finally opening his eyes, he determined that there were no demons or dangerous animals within the area.

Closing his eyes once more, he grunted from a small flash of pain in his back. Grumbling in his mind, he roared "_Damn that Kagome! She didn't have to 'sit' me that many times! Couldn't she see that that damn wolf was still interested in her!? He maybe mated, but he showed that he still had feelings for her! Arg, she's just so infuriating sometimes!_"

Opening his eyes, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Sniffing the air, he frowned when he couldn't pick up the scent of whatever or whoever was approaching for some reason. Swiveling his ears, he noticed that the sound of footsteps had ceased also, making him frown slightly. Standing up on the limb he had been sitting on, he scanned the forest for any signs of danger, but found none.

"Looking for me?" a voice said from below him, startling him and almost making him fall out of the tree. Glancing down, he saw that the voice belonged to the source of his thoughts.

Smiling up towards him, Kagome watched a scowl appear on Inuyasha's face. He wordlessly turned around till his back was to her and sat back down on the limb he was on. Frowning at his behavior, Kagome sighed inwardly.

"_I guess that answers that question. He's definitely still mad at me._" she mumbled in her mind with a touch of hurt reflecting in her eyes.

Deciding to proceed, she leapt up into the same tree Inuyasha was in and found her way to his branch. Landing on the branch, she couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes when she saw him looking away.

"What do you want?" he gruffly asked.

Biting her lower lip, Kagome quietly said "I've come to apologize."

Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha remained quiet while she continued on. "I'm sorry Inuyasha. I shouldn't have 'sat' you like that. I had no right to really, and it was cruel of me to do that to you. You were just concerned, and I instead took it the wrong way and punished you for it."

Taking a deep breath, she added "But know this Inuyasha, I have nothing in my heart for Kouga other than friendship. He means nothing more, nothing less. Him and Ayame are just friends, and I have never felt anything other than that for Kouga. And trust me, I know Kouga would never do something to violate the trust of Ayame, and I would never accept him if he did. Please believe me, I didn't mean to make you think that I liked him like that."

Sitting quiet for a few moments, Inuyasha glanced up at the sky, seeing that the sun was nearly down over the horizon. With a ragged sigh, he flatly replied "It's alright Kagome… I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have acted like that. I just don't like that wolf."

Cracking a small smile, she said "You and Kouga are more alike than you'll ever know."

"Feh, I doubt that." he bit out.

Giggling, she shook her head. "_You two are both so similar. Neither of you can see that there is someone in love with you while you are chasing after someone else._"

Taking a peek at Kagome, he saw that she was lost in thought. Smiling, he realized how cute she looked when she was lost in her thoughts. Deciding to not ignore her anymore, he returned his vision towards her.

Coming out of her thoughts, Kagome saw that Inuyasha was now looking at her. She could feel his golden orbs boring into her own honey colored orbs. Staring into his, she felt herself getting lost within them, seeing so much of her life with him in them.

Memories of him and her being together poured through her mind. The first was when she first met him, still sealed to the Sacred Tree. How she had awakened him that night and freed him from Kikyo's spell, then how he had acted on the first time during his human night. More memories filed in, with her remembering how he always protected her and kept her safe, even when he hurt her also by being with Kikyo.

A specific memory then sparked to life in her mind, of when she had made her vow to be by his side as long as he let her. She had meant her words then, to always be by his side as long as he would allow her to be, because it was all she could do. She had decided that if he chose Kikyo, she would still stay by his side, as a friend, no matter what.

Another memory flared to life of when they were in Kaguya's Castle, and Inuyasha had been transforming into his full demon form. She had said the only thing that came to mind while he had wrestled with his inner demon.

"_Inuyasha, I love you, I love you as a half demon._"

That alone had seemingly brought him back to his senses a bit, making him not wish to become a full demon right then. Still, it hadn't reversed his transformation completely, so she then did the only thing she could think of to save him. She had kissed him, even while his claws were digging into her arms. The kiss had been real and meaningful, for she wished to express how she truly felt about him, and it had worked. Upon kissing him, his demonic side was pushed back, and he released his clawed hold on her. He had then kissed her back. Once it was over, he promised to stay a half demon a little longer for her.

Other past memories flowed back to her mind, one of when they had returned to Kaede's Village after they had escaped the stone ogre's stomach. He had been so remorseful for her getting hurt due to his inability to control his demonic power when he had placed a single jewel shard onto the Tetsusaiga. She had been surprised he had admitted that he had made an error, but still conferred in him that she cared about him, and that she was glad to be by his side.

While Kagome was walking down memory lane, the same thing seemed to be happening in Inuyasha's mind. Memories of how Kagome had constantly taken care of him and encouraged him, how she had admitted she cared about him.

A particular memory of when he had saved Kagome from Naraku's Infant came into mind. He had selfishly gone to find Kikyo after her confrontation with Naraku, one which she had apparently lost and may have been killed. Kagome had told him to go, but even as dense as he was, he realized then that it had pained her to say that. Still, he had went, only to find out it was a trick. Returning quickly, he came to find out Kagome had been kidnapped. Approaching a building where Kagome was on a cliff, Inuyasha was leaping into the air when he heard Kagome's voice declare something that he had never expected her to say.

"_I love Inuyasha!_"

Those simple words alone had shocked him. He had known that for the longest time, he had felt something for Kagome, but never had known how she felt. Hearing her say those words had made his soul long to be with her, but yet he pretended to not acknowledge her words. He had saved her from Naraku's Infant, but didn't mention to her at all that he had heard her declaration.

Standing, he moved closer till he was a short distance from her. Still staring into her honey colored eyes with his own amber ones, he felt as if he was looking into his past, his present, and what he hoped would be his future. Deciding he needed to speak, he felt his throat was dry and his stomach filling up with butterflies.

"_Damn it, not this again. Why is it every time I get ready to tell her what I want to say, my damn pride gets in the way!? I want to tell her the truth! She needs to know!_"

"Inuyasha…" she whispered, breaking him from his thoughts.

Glancing at her lips, he couldn't help but remember when she had kissed him at Kaguya's Castle that one time. When he had come out of his demonic state, he had realized what he was doing and deepened the kiss. "_Her lips were so soft and warm. I want to capture them with my own again._"

Making up his mind, he reached out and cupped her cheek with his left clawed hand, being careful to not hurt her with his claws. Just as he did, the sun sank below the horizon, causing his body pulsate.

"_Damn it, not now!_" he groaned inwardly.

Glancing at Kagome, he saw her body pulsate. "_Was I imagining things, or did I just see Kagome's body pulsate?_" he pondered while feeling his body beginning to lose it's strength.

Retracting his hand, he glanced at it, seeing his claws shrink away and human fingers replace them. At the same time, he could feel his fangs shrinking while his dog ears pulled in and human ones sprouted. Glancing at his bangs, he saw the silver fading away, giving way to black hair. Closing his eyes, he waited for the transformation to end, knowing his eyes were always last to change back from a gold to violet.

Opening his eyes, he gasped in surprise while seeing Kagome was still pulsating. Her half demon form slowly began to melt away, with her hair retaining it's usual black color, but her dog ears melted away while human ears appeared. Her clawed hands became delicate fingers, and her tail pulled back into her body. Last to change was her eyes, for the lost their honey coloring and became chocolate colored once more.

Flinching at the momentary pain, Kagome panted lightly and looked at her hands and wiggled her fingers. Softly grinning, she said "I guess my human night is the same as your own."

"I suppose so." Inuyasha replied with a small smirk.


	33. Chapter 33: Promises

**Hey guys and girls! Well, this week has been an exciting one. First off, Monday, I found out that I had a business trip to take place on Thursday, unexpectedly. It's cool and all, but I wish I'd have had some more notice. Anyways, I'm writing this review up from my motel room. Other than that, not too much new. My grandfather (mom's side) is once more in the hospital. It wasn't anything too serious. He had a urinary tract infection that got into his blood stream, causing him to run a high fever. They got him into the hospital Wednesday and got his fever down quickly. Other than that, he's doing well.**

**Writing wise, eh, it's up and down. I'm trying to focus on this story at times, but also I'm trying to work on my **_**Minutes to Midnight **_**story also. It's hard to split my time between the two, but **_**MtM**_** gets more due that me and the coauthor are behind on it, lol. But it's all good. I'm farther ahead on this story, so things are cool.**

**Alright, moving alone, review time!**

**kattana: Thanks about the cuteness. I thought throwing Kouga into the mix would shake things up a little for the happy half dog demons, hehe. Yes, Kouga is a nice guy, and I'm sure Ayame loves him as a mate, if she doesn't kill him, lol. Yeah, Inuyasha and Kagome are talking once more, albeit due to stressful reasons. Heh, always fun to relate a story to real life, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Yes, I know I suck at making cliffhangers, hehe. I'm just evil like that. Heh, the cliffhangers aren't to annoy you. It's just how I segmented my chapters, lol. It makes readers like it and find out what happens, doesn't it? I know, that's evil, but being evil is fun, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Thanks for the reviews you two. I'm glad to always see both of your comments on what I did with the chapter. Also, thanks to the person who added my story to their favs. Wow, this story has nearly as many favs as two of my other stories, which is very cool to see. Heh, that's some progress I'd say for this thing.**

**One last piece of what's going on before I go. In this chapter, there is a lemon warning. This lemon is possibly a little less mild as my other. My mate said it was way too bad, but I hadn't tamed it down when she said that. In my mind, it seems fine with warnings, so I'm going with it. If it isn't, I'll possibly raise my rating. Really, with this story, lemons aren't the focus. There are only three at the least, so no worries. Anyways, if you wish to skip it, when you hit the section labeling the beginning of my lemon, just do a search for "End Lemon", and you'll be taken below the lemon. Again, I don't think it's that provocative, but that maybe just me too. At any rate, I hope no one hates me for writing this.**

**Btw, I read the last chapter of the Inuyasha manga, and in a way, it wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be. I mean, it was a nice ending, but not quite what I envisioned. Heh, I think the joke page said it best really, lol. Anyways, the series is over, which is sad but happy at the same time. As for how this story follows the manga, it semi does, semi not. When I began work on this, it was before the end, so I never mentioned what became of Naraku. At any rate, this sort of meshes with the manga, other than the last 3 or 4 chapters, lol. Anyways, I just thought I'd throw that out there.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 33**

Realizing he had been interrupted, he decided to not put off what he was doing any longer. "Kagome…" he slowly began.

"Hmm?"

Taking a deep breath, he slowly said "Since I've known you, you've shown me nothing but kindness, even when I didn't deserve an ounce of it. Feh, I was the last person that deserved it at times. I hurt you so many times that I can't recount them all, but you still came back to me. You even swore to stay by my side, no matter what happened."

Pausing for a moment to look deeply into her eyes, he continued on finally. "You helped change me for the better. If not for you, I'd have made my wish to become a full demon, and would have become a cold blooded murderer. Thanks to you, I've learned to like what I am, and enjoy it. You've even helped me come to not mind being human once a month, showing me that humans aren't completely weak."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome murmured.

Smiling at her, he said "Kagome, you told me something once back at Kaguya's Castle that I never responded to. You told me how much you cared about me as a half demon, and even some time later, you admitted your feelings to me when Naraku's Infant had you held hostage."

"_He actually heard me both of those times!? And he even remembers! What is he trying to say I wonder?_" Kagome wondered in her mind, but was quickly brought out of her thoughts by a soft hand cupping her cheek.

"Kagome, you've been there for me all of these five years, and I think it's only fair I tell you the truth. It's taken so long for me to say this, but Kagome, I love you." Inuyasha admitted.

Feeling her cheeks turn pink, Kagome couldn't help but quickly reply "I love you too!"

Moving forward till there were only inches separating the two, Inuyasha gently pressed his lips to Kagome's, who pressed back. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck while he cupped both her cheeks. Softly kissing, Inuyasha licked the entrance to Kagome's mouth, asking for permission to deepen the kiss. She willing allowed him entrance, allowing the two to taste one another's mouth. The two continued to kiss for long moments till finally both came up from air. Panting lightly, each rested their foreheads against one another.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered. Gathering her wits, she pulled her head back, looking into his violet eyes. Timidly, she said "I… I… I want to always be by your side."

He could only gasp at her straight forward declaration. Kagome instantly looked away blush staining her cheeks, but Inuyasha reached out and cupped her cheeks with both hands, bringing her back to look him in the face.

Tenderly, he stepped forward and wrapped her into a warm embrace. Putting a hand on the back of her head, he pulled it to his chest while resting his own on top of hers. Softly, he said "Kagome, I want you to always be by my side, no matter what happens."

Nodding slightly, Kagome closed her eyes and listened to Inuyasha's heart beating in a soft rhythm. She let out a contented sigh and finally opened her eyes.

Releasing her at long last, Inuyasha turned her around and pulled her down with him to sit down on the branch. He pulled them back up against the butt of the tree. She laid quietly in his lap, leaning back against him while he wrapped his arms around her body. Sighing contently himself, he leaned against the tree, feeling her entire body against his own. Closing his eyes, he inhaled her scent, what of it he could since he was human.

"_At last, I told her, and she accepted me. It's hard to believe that she accepted me, a lonely half demon. But she does, and that's enough for me. I feel so much better now that she knows._" he mumbled within his mind. A moment later, he realized that time was fleeting. "_In only 15 days, Kagome will become a slave to that bastard Kurama if we don't find him before then and kill him on the spot. Even though Iya swore, along with myself, to save her, I still don't know if we can make it in time._"

Shaking himself mentally, he groaned inwardly at his fear of losing what he had just gained. "_I can't think like that. No matter what, I will save Kagome._"

"_But what if you don't make it? If I lost her... I'd never be able to recover with that kind of loss. Sure, without Kikyo I lived on and found Kagome, but that was different. Kagome has connected with me on a much deeper level than Kikyo ever could. I know in my heart, I could never go on living without her._"

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

Hearing Kagome's sweet voice, he opened his eyes and glanced down to see she had shifted herself to look back at him. Turning his head away, he muttered "It's nothing."

Shuffling so that she was sitting back on her knees in front of him, she said "I know it's nothing. You're tense, and that always means something is wrong. Please, don't hide things from me."

Heavily sighing, he returned his vision to her and slowly mumbled "Kagome, just leave me to my own thoughts."

Grabbing a tuft of his hair and pulling him closer while he yelped, she growled out "Inuyasha, I love you with all my heart, but please don't hide things from me. I'm here for you, like you're here for me. So please, tell me what's bothering you."

"Fine…" he muttered, making her let go of his hair at long last. Looking down at the ground, he slowly said "I'm scared, of losing you."

"Why would you be scared of that? I'll always be by your side. Remember, I promised to be." Kagome reminded.

Sighing, he nodded and asked with concern dripping in his voice "But what if you can't be? What if we don't find Kurama soon enough and you're forced to become his slave!?"

"Then I want you to kill me." Kagome firmly stated.

Gasping in shock, Inuyasha looked up at her to see the seriousness in her eyes. Shaking his head roughly, he replied "Don't say things like that Kagome."

"I mean it Inuyasha. If we can't find Kurama and defeat him by the end of the thirtieth day, I want you to kill me. I would rather die than help that mage in any way, or be his plaything." she declared. "I want you to promise me that Inuyasha."

"I… I can't promise something like that Kagome…" Inuyasha began, but was quickly cut off by Kagome. "Promise me. I don't want to be his slave. So promise me."

Looking away, he clenched his fists tightly, making his knuckles turn white. Feeling Kagome slip a comforting hand over one of his while another hand touched his cheek and gently turned his head back towards her.

With glassy eyes, she pleadingly said "Please Inuyasha, promise me that. If we can't stop Kurama, I want you to not let me fall into his hands. Please, I beg of you, do what you know you must if it comes down to it."

Reaching out and taking hold of her hand on his cheek with his own, Inuyasha weakly said "Kagome, I can't…"

"Why won't you!?" she angrily shouted with rage flashing in her eyes.

Gripping her hand a little tighter, he lightly replied "If you died, I could never move on in life."

Softly gasping at this, Inuyasha's words dawned on her what he was saying. "_If I died, he would die inside along with me._"

"_Without Kagome, I could never move on with my life. Even if I had someone else kill her, I could never live on knowing I lost the one person who completes me. No, I would never recover from such a loss._" Inuyasha miserably thought to himself.

Seeing the sadness clearly written on his face, Kagome leaned in against him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you felt that strongly." she whispered.

"Of course I feel that way about you Kagome!" he angrily snapped back. Calming a bit, he remorsefully added "I… I just couldn't live with myself if I lost you. You're the only thing in my life that seems to give me meaning and purpose. Without you, I'd lose every reason to continue on."

Pulling back and looking up at him, she quickly began saying "But the others…"

Cutting in, he placed a finger over her lips and shook his head. "You don't understand Kagome. The others need me, I know, but they don't need me as much as I need you by my side."

Letting out a low growl, he added "If we had never run into those damn mages, maybe we could have been happy, and we could have mated…."

"Mated?" Kagome interrupted and looked at him inquisitively while tilting her head to the side.

Blushing lightly, Inuyasha quickly replied "It's the demon equivalent of getting married, in essence, except it's a private ceremony to only the two individuals. Once they…"

Seeing him turning a deep shade of red, almost as red as his kimono top, she asked "Once they what?"

"Uh, uh, once they… consummate their relationship…" he slowly whispered, "the male marks the female. If the two demons love one another, the female will in turn mark the male, thus making them lifetime mates."

Frowning, Kagome asked "What if only the male marks the female?"

Taking a deep breath to calm his embarrassment, Inuyasha finally said "That means that the two could eventually part ways. Marking one another is a symbol that both wish to spend their lives together, but if the male doesn't allow a female to mark him, that means the mating can be nullified and each can find a different mate eventually."

"I see…" Kagome quietly replied. Turning back around so that her back was to him, she scooted back against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Yawning, she mumbled "I'm a bit tired."

Smiling down at her, Inuyasha slowly ran his fingers through her black silky tresses while Kagome's breathing began to slow. Realizing she was falling asleep, Inuyasha softly sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

"_Kagome, no matter what, I will always protect you. I won't lose you, I swear it!_"

--

Glancing down at the woman asleep in his arms, Inuyasha softly smiled. It was nearly dawn, and Kagome had slept throughout the night while he sat awake like always on his human nights.

Running his fingers through her hair for the millionth time, he enjoyed the feeling of the soft tresses. Just staring down at her face, he couldn't help but feel as if he was staring at his future.

"_But our future is already in peril, even without having a chance to start out of the gates. She only has fourteen more days before Kurama can claim her as his own slave due to that damn spell._" he grumbled within his mind.

Looking down at her, he could already sense the dark thoughts that his mind was churning up of her fate. One thought of her being turned against him by Kurama, another of Kurama deciding to not need her any longer and kill her off.

"_And then there is the thought of losing her forever... I'll never be able to claim her as my mate if I lose her._" he miserably muttered in his mind.

Taking a glance at the sky, he saw that dawn was still at least an hour away. Looking back down at the sleeping form in his arms, he sighed. "_If only I could make her mine..._"

"_Wait, why can't we mate?_" he questioned. Feeling his cheeks heat up, he sneaked another peek down at her still form.

"_If we mated, we could mark one another and become lifetime mates. I want to be her lifetime mate dearly, but would she agree?_"

Thinking for a moment, he made up his mind. "_Yes, I want to mate with her. It could be a promise of a life to her, thus giving her a reason to keep pressing on. I only hope she agrees._"

A dark thought popped up of being rejected. "_Would she really want to be with a lowly half breed like myself? I mean, I have nothing to offer her, other than words that we'll always be together, and that our future will happen. I have nothing else to offer her, other than my life and Tetsusaiga._"

Sighing, he pushed the thought away. "_No, Kagome loves me for who I am. She's repeatedly told me she doesn't care about my past, and she loves me for what I am and what I stand for. That is enough. I'll make sure to always provide for her, no matter what._"

Making his final decision, he felt his face becoming warm at having to tell Kagome his thoughts and to ask her to be his mate. "_Damn it, I can't fink out this time! I have to commit myself to this! I will ask her to be my mate!_"

Readying himself, he bent down to Kagome's ear and whispered "Kagome?"

She softly turned in her sleep and buried deeper into his kimono, making him slightly feel bad for waking her. "_If I don't do this now, I'll never be able to._"

Softly shaking her, he whispered again "Kagome?"

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open while she tried to focus them. Stifling a yawn, she softly asked "What is it Inuyasha?"

Shifting her in his arms so that he was carrying her in bridal style, Inuyasha leapt towards the ground, making Kagome slightly "eep" at the sudden movement. Landing on the ground gracefully, Inuyasha set her down onto her feet.

"What was that about?" she asked with a slight flare of anger in her voice.

Sighing softly, Inuyasha stared into her face and softly said "I'm sorry."

Softening her expression, she sighed and replied "No, I shouldn't have overreacted. Now, what's up?"

Staring into her eyes, he took hold of one of her hands with his own and used the other to cup her cheek. Instantly, both locked eyes, each seemingly looking into the other's soul.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered slightly before he planted a kiss onto her lips, silencing her. Licking her lips, he silently asked for permission to enter and received it after a moment. Deepening the kiss, he tasted her mouth longingly, while she responded back just as earnestly.

Finally coming up for air, the pair panted lightly and rested their foreheads together. Pulling back finally, Inuyasha looked deeply into Kagome's eyes, who looked back, enjoying the view of his eyes.

"Kagome, I want to ask you something." he mumbled lowly, but she heard him.

Looking inquisitively at him, she asked "What is it Inuyasha?"

Squeezing her hand slightly, he slowly said "Kagome, you know I love you, and I wish to always be with you, to protect you, from everything, no matter how terrible it is."

Leaning into his touch, Kagome softly replied "I know, and I trust you with my very life. And I love you very much, and always wish to be by your side."

"I know, and that's why I want to ask you something important." Inuyasha whispered back. Looking deeply into her eyes, he shyly asked "Kagome… will… will you be my mate?"

Blinking slowly, she repeated "Will I be your mate?"

Getting a nod in reply, Kagome closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry…" Inuyasha began and started to turn, only to be held in place and pulled back to Kagome, who pressed her lips to his own, giving him a powerful kiss.

Breaking apart finally, she smiled at him with tears running down her cheeks and said "Yes, I want to be your mate! More than anything else, I want to be your mate!"

Hardly believing his ears, Inuyasha smiled at her and placed a chastising kiss on her lips and embraced her. Pulling back slightly, he whispered "This mating is a promise Kagome, that we will beat Kurama and save you."

Pulling back fully, he looked her in the face to see her smiling at him brightly. "I trust you completely Inuyasha, and I want to be your mate, no matter what happens."

**From here on is a lemon warning. This is just to let you all know. If you wish to skip this part, do a search for "End Lemon", which will take you to where the lemon ends. Thanks.**

Nodding, he inched forwards and slowly kissed her once more. Their kiss was mutual, with Kagome giving him permission to enter her mouth. The two tasted one another's tongues for long moments, enjoying the feeling.

Still kissing, he reached up and cupped her cheeks with both hands. Slowly, they moved down the side of her face to her neck and trailed down her arms till finally they ended up around her waist. At the same time, Kagome looped her arms around his neck, pulling the two together even more.

After a minute of an intense kiss, Inuyasha pulled away and began kissing his way down Kagome's jaw bone, earning him a small moan. Making his way to the juncture of her neck, he continued to nibble while she ran her hands over his chest.

Stepping away for a moment, he pulled Tetsusaiga out of his obi and set it onto the ground. Kagome followed suit and pulled Hikari from her own obi. Turning around, she ran into Inuyasha, who crushed his lips to her own. Pushing her backwards till they were against a tree, he took hold of her hands with his own and held them tightly.

Finally coming up for air, both looked shyly at one another before he moved in again, this time kissing her jaw bone once more. Kagome once more moaned at the sensations that Inuyasha was creating. He slowly worked his way down till he was at the folds of her kimono.

Without a second thought, he reached out and untied her obi, causing her kimono to open slightly. Continuing on with quivering hands, he slid the top layer off of her, revealing her under kimono. Kissing her once more on the lips, he slid his hands into her under kimono and gently pulled it open, revealing a pale yellow bra.

Staring at her ample breasts being held back by a single piece of fabric, Inuyasha moved in and kissed her deeply once more while his hands cupped her cheeks. Gradually, his hands worked down her face to her neck, then down her shoulders and over her bare sides. Nervously, he reached up and ran a stray hand over the curve of one breast.

Kagome let out a small shiver from the motion, making Inuyasha begin to withdraw his hand, only to have Kagome grab it and pull it back. Gently, he rubbed over the curve of her right breast. Enjoying the feeling, Kagome poured more emotion into her kiss while she felt her body heating up from Inuyasha's motions.

Getting braver, Inuyasha broke the kiss off and pulled back slightly. Kneeling, he worked her pants off of her hips, leaving her standing in only her pale yellow bra and bikini briefs. Reaching out to feel the fabric, Inuyasha slowly stood and traced his way up her hips and up to her bra, enjoying the feel of the satin and Kagome's silky skin.

Kagome could only let out a small shiver of anticipation as Inuyasha made his way back up to her breasts. Carefully, he cupped the two with his bare hands, softly feeling them through the fabric, making Kagome ache for more of his touch. Having had enough of the offending fabric, he reached up and pulled the straps off her shoulders, only to have Kagome stop him.

Looking curiously at her, he pondered if she wanted to stop, but instead, she was reaching behind herself. She unhooked her bra and slyly turned her back towards him, revealing the straps were loose. With a slight shrug, she took the bra off, leaving her bare back to him. Looking over her shoulders at him seductively, she winked.

Smiling, he moved forward and turned Kagome around to face him once more. Looking down at her breasts, he could hardly keep from gasping at the bare skin. Both her nipples were already half awake. Reaching down, he captured one in his mouth and gently sucked, making Kagome softly gasp at the action. Cupping the other breast, he softly rubbed the other nipple to life, using his thumb to pad it. Satisfied at long last, he pulled back to look at the nipple he had been suckling on, finding it hard and standing firmly. Moving over to the other, he suckled on it like had the other, earning another gasp and moan from Kagome.

While Inuyasha was busy with her breasts, Kagome ran her fingers through his black locks of hair, softly scraping her nails against his scalp. A small growl escaped him, making her softly smirk.

Pulling back to look at both of Kagome's firm nipples, Inuyasha kissed Kagome deeply once more while his hands trailed down her sides and over her hips. Reaching her hips, he slid his hands into the waistband of her underwear on her hips and felt the soft skin below it. Kagome could only kiss more passionately at the feeling, enjoying the soft feel of his hands.

Finally releasing his hold on her, Inuyasha pulled back and pulled his kimono top off and spread it out onto the ground. Grabbing Kagome's discarded top, he spread it out next to his own also. Standing back up, he walked over to Kagome, who slyly smiled at him. Smirking back at her, he pulled her into his arms and lifted her bridal style. Carefully, he set her down onto the kimono tops and moved so that his body laid next to her own.

Kissing passionately, the pair's hands roamed over the other's body. Kagome found herself running her hands over Inuyasha's chest, while he ran his own hands over each breast, thumbing each nipple back to life. His hands soon enough slid further down her body, across her firm stomach and finally to where her panties were. Gently, he stroked his hand over the fabric from hip to hip.

Growing brave at last, he slid his hand on her inner thigh, earning him a small gasp of pleasure from Kagome. Inwardly smiling at it, he again made another pass, again earning another small moan. Finally taking the last step, he moved his hand over top of her crotch, feeling the heat rising up from it.

Feeling what Inuyasha was doing, Kagome stilled. Gently, Inuyasha worked his way into the yellow fabric, but stopped for a moment and pulled back to look her in the face. Getting a nod, he softly smiled and nodded back and proceeded to begin kissing her once more while his hand slid lower into the yellow fabric. Feeling soft curls of hair, he gently ran his hand over them, earning a small moan of pleasure from Kagome. Deciding to go further, he worked his way through the coarse hair till he found her nub. It was already slick and wet, so he softly ran a finger over it, getting a surprised gasp and moan of pleasure from Kagome.

For a few minutes, he continued to rub her nub, making Kagome finally break off the kiss to only begin panting lightly. She ran her hands up and down his chest. Finally having had enough, she grabbed his hand, making him look to her with confusion. Seductively smiling at him, she pulled his hand out of her underwear and stood, dragging him with her to their feet.

Standing up, she ripped open his under kimono, revealing his well formed chest. Not stopping there, she reached for his obi, untying it and pulling his pants off, only to reveal his member.

Staring at it, she gasped softly and sat down onto her knees to examine it closely. It was already almost fully awake, but not fully. Running a finger over it, she heard Inuyasha gasp in surprise and noted his member grew in size to being fully awake. Smiling, she reached forward and clasped her hand around it and worked her hand up and down it a few times, earning her another surprised gasp from Inuyasha.

In the back of her mind, which she determined was her demon side talking, a voice told her to taste him so she could always identify him. A chill ran down her spine at the thought of doing such a thing, but she soon found herself moving closer. Opening her mouth, she softly licked the tip of his member, making him throw back his head and clench his fists tightly.

Seeing the reaction she got, she daringly continued and flicked her tongue over the head of his member once more, earning another elicit moan and growl from Inuyasha. Taking the last step, she placed his member within her mouth and began to softly suck, moving back and forth gently.

Upon Kagome doing this, Inuyasha felt his world beginning to spin. Waves of pleasure were crashing over his body, ones he never knew were even possible for him to feel.

Realizing he was so close to a much needed release, he backed away slightly, pulling his member free from Kagome's mouth. She looked up at him, with a hint of confusion, only to squeal in surprise when he pushed her backwards onto the kimonos. He grabbed hold of her yellow undergarments and quickly pulled them off of her body, revealing herself to him completely.

Staring at the juncture between her legs, he licked his lips slightly and kneeled down between her legs. Kagome only gasped in surprise when he lowered his head and began to lick her nub. Intense waves of pleasure began washing over her mind, much like what had happened with Inuyasha. She spread her arms, her hands furiously grasping bunches of the kimonos beneath her.

Noting Kagome's reaction, Inuyasha smiled inside and felt his male pride rise. Pulling a hand close, he softly felt around her opening, noticing that it was rather wet. Gently, he pushed a single finger into the opening, making Kagome gasp out in complete surprise by the intrusion. She quickly stilled when he pushed his finger in and out slowly.

Feeling her walls of flesh, Inuyasha was quite surprised by how tight she was. Deciding to test how tight, he added a second finger, earning him another gasp of pleasure from Kagome. After a minute of pushing in and out with two fingers, he added a third, making Kagome cry out in ecstasy. A few minutes later, she cried out while the muscles within her clenched tightly around his fingers and liquid came rushing out.

Removing his fingers, he moved downward and licked up what she had expelled, noting to keep track of how she tasted and smelled.

"Inuyasha, please…" she whimpered, making him smile inside at her calling his name for to satisfy her.

Making the decision that she was ready, he sat up and scooted closer till his member's tip was pressing up against her entrance. Gently, he pressed in and moved forward till his upper body was covering hers.

In a slight whisper, he apologetically said "I'm sorry, but this will hurt for a moment."

With that, he slowly slid into her body fully, making her walls stretch greatly. She cried out in a slight bit of pain when she felt her barrier in her body break, but soon pleasure replaced the pain. Feeling it break, he remained still.

Noting Inuyasha wasn't moving, Kagome realized that he was resting, giving her body a chance to adjust to him. Finally, he began to withdrawal, only to push back in. Feelings of great pleasure washed through both, each enjoying the mutual pleasure the other was giving.

Speeding up, Inuyasha began to thrust faster and harder, earning more moans of pleasure from Kagome. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, deeply kissing him while he thrust even faster. All at once, she could feel the coiling within her stomach that was getting tighter and tighter. Without warning, it finally was too tight, and she came for the second time that night, this time taking Inuyasha with her, who screamed out in ecstasy while he came with her.

Inuyasha felt his world beginning to spin and nearly collapsed onto Kagome, but held his own weight up with his hands. Both were panting heavily, enjoying the backwash of the feelings each had just created.

**Alright, here is the end of the lemon. From here on, things are clear again. End Lemon.**

Rolling off of Kagome and back onto his back, he reached over and kissed Kagome deeply for a moment. Releasing the kiss, he glanced up at the sky and saw the sun just coming up.

Both bodies pulsated at the rising of the sun, each feeling the effects instantly. Inuyasha's hair returned to it's original silver color first, with next each of their human ears vanishing and being replaced by dog ears on their heads. Each one then had their claws and fangs grow back, ending the transformations.

Looking at Kagome warmly, Inuyasha softly said "Kagome, we need to complete the last part of the mating ritual."

"To mark one another, right?" Kagome asked curiously.

Nodding, Inuyasha sat up and bent down. Gently, he began to lick the juncture on her neck and shoulder. Softly, he said "This mark is a promise Kagome, that we will beat Kurama and save you from being his slave. It is also a promise that I will always love you and be by your side, no matter what happens."

Licking the place one more, he felt his fangs elongate a bit. "This will hurt a little…" he muttered.

Gently as possible, he sank his fangs into her neck, making Kagome clench her hands tightly, drawing a little bit of blood. Removing his fangs, he licked the blood up, sealing up the wound.

Sitting up, Kagome had Inuyasha lay onto his back and she began to lick his juncture of his neck and shoulder. "Inuyasha, this is a promise that I will always be by your side, and forever love you, no matter what happens."

With her words said, she opened her jaws, having her fangs elongate. Sinking them into his neck, she felt Inuyasha tense for a moment, but only a moment. Pulling back her fangs, they shrank back to normal and she lapped up the wound.

Sitting up himself, Inuyasha reached forward and kissed Kagome deeply, causing both his aura and her own to flare up. The two melded together, becoming one.

Pulling back, each stared into the other's eyes. "Is that all?" Kagome asked, unsure if there was more.

Softly chuckling, Inuyasha nodded and said "We're mates now and forever Kagome."

Placing a chastising kiss on her lips, he softly said "I will always love you Kagome."

"And I will always love you too Inuyasha." she replied.


	34. Chapter 34: Broken Past, Pt 1

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend was interesting. Saturday, my mate and I went furniture shopping for a new bed. We found a nice set of mattresses and began looking for a bed. We found one, but decided to get the whole bedroom suit due that it was mostly cheaper to buy it and have a matching set of furniture. So, now we have to get rid of our old set, which is going to my mate's mom, other than the bed. The bed is pretty tore up (not from me and my mate before any of you start thinking that, although that probably did attribute to it, lol), but the furniture store is going to take our old mattress and box springs, which is good. We'll just have the headboard and rails left to get rid of, which isn't a problem. Other than that, I saw my grandfather also this weekend. He was put in the hospital on Wednesday, but he was doing better on Sunday. Lol, for once, he was really chatty, but also very antsy, which was odd. At any rate, he was doing well and should be home, or is going home soon. My grandma told me she'd tell me when he was going, but I think she forgot and I haven't had much time to check in, sadly. Oh well, that's life. Ah yes, I'm looking forward to a day off this week. It'll be great to get a three day weekend once more. Fun fun!**

**Writing wise, things are moving along. I completed a section that I had been dragging my feet on, not intentionally, for this story, so I'm happy. I've been trying to catch up on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, but it's hard, lol.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**kattana: Cool that you read it off of a PDA, but it's cool that the review didn't go through. Lol, sleepiness and technology usually don't mix. Heh, no bliss, eh? Oh well, it's cool. Yes, Kagome and Inuyasha finally mated after five long years (I know, I said five when it's really only been a year or two I think for the real timeline. It's so hard to figure out). Heh, yeah, that's what I was thinking about the lemon. I didn't go overboard with it. Lol, my mate thought it was rather heated though, but she's said that about the first. Then again, she said the first was much milder than this one, so oh well, lol. Glad you liked it and didn't find it offensive. Yeah, I tried to make it romantic and close to as real as it should be. But yes, it was well overdue, especially since the final chapter of the manga didn't even have any kissing or anything. We know Miroku and Sango were busy at the least, lol. But yes, Inuyasha admitted his feelings and took Kagome as his own mate, so now the pair are finally together. True, there are four people left, possibly. As for Rin and Kohaku, we'll see I suppose. They are technically kids still, although both were coming of age. LOL! Uh, uh, uh, I'm not even sure how to comment on the Sesshomaru crack about him and Ryo hooking up. I'm sure Ryo has no intentions of doing that. He maybe a mage and maybe away from civilization, but I'm sure even he has limits, hehe. And no, don't expect a Ryo/Sesshomaru pairing. I'll say that much upfront, just so no one thinks there is a possible pairing of them. I don't do yoi/yaoi (whatever the hell it is with same sex pairings) due that it's just not appealed to me. Even if it did, I probably wouldn't. It's not racist or anything, but it's just the fact that I've never thought of characters like that, and don't intend to really. Moving along, there are four others that are free, but we'll see where that goes. But the others may hook up, you never know. Thanks for the kudos and the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Next time I'll sell fans for you so you can cool off easier. Eh, the rating thing is still up in the air. I think it may change, but I'm unsure. Other than the lemons, there is nothing to really force it up, and I hate to take it out of the mainstream is the sucky thing. I don't know. I'm still thinking on it. Ah yes, about chastising, I think you may be right. When I think chastising, it's like a quick kiss, but not kissing longingly, as if punishing the person somewhat I suppose. Eh, maybe I mean chaste, I don't know. I suck with the English language at times, hehe. Ah, critiquing, I love it! Glad you think things are really coming along with this story. I've always thought things were moving along nicely, but to hear it helps a lot. Heh, I've been trying to do the balancing thing, so that people get adventure, but there is a little romance thrown in as well to keep everyone happy. Yes, I thought having the servants of the slaves attacking shook things up a bit. That and I got to use them, lol. I really liked both from Naruto, so I thought I'd throw them in, so making a back story for Kimimaro was fun. You never know, that could play an important part one day… Oh wait, no talking on that! But yes, they're moving along, and the pace is starting to quicken a bit. The mages aren't too far off in the horizon, meaning the epic battles will begin soon enough. True, I should have pushed Inuyasha and Kagome together sooner, but the timing wasn't right. Besides, we all saw how Inuyasha floundered around when he had her alone before Kurama attacked. I was thinking that what he wanted to say was easier to say as a human than his prideful half demon self, which worked I suppose. I guess I should have had them mate first, but you must remember, Kagome and Inuyasha has always played the shy couple, whereas Miroku and Sango are not as shy towards one another, although Sango is more shy obviously, lol. But I digress, I had the foxes mate first just due that Sango went in heat and planned the doggies later. As for the lemon, yes, it was a bit more detailed than my first. Eh, the first I was happy with, but not completely due that I thought it lacked a little. It was a lovely first attempt, but again, I didn't feel it was good enough, but then again, I didn't want to push the envelope too far either, so I settled on this one after several rewrites, lol. Eh, lemons don't bother me too much, but then again, I'm not out to find stories with them in them specifically. If they work with the plot and aren't just there to for a glorious sex scene, then they are acceptable, however, if they're just there to get ratings and reviews, it shouldn't be out there. I only write my lemons when necessary and if they go with the plot. I'm glad you think the lemons do have a place within my story, and truthfully, there is at least one left, but that's it. Like I said, the story doesn't revolve around the lemons, and I tried to make it so that they didn't. The lemons are there to add to the plot, but are not necessary to move it along. But thank you for your comments on that. True, the groups haven't met up with the mages yet, but like I said, they're coming into view in the near future. The war with them is far from over, so no worries. Yes, the mages are arrogant, cocky, and bold, but they also realize that they need the others drawn to them. After all, they are playing a strategy if you think about it. I mean, they're two weeks away from each group to start with. That's a strategy if you dig into it really. Thanks for the wonderful review. I really got a lot of useful info from it.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Wow, that was really long, lol. Thank you both for those excellent reviews! I got a lot of helpful info from them. And btw, thanks to the two people who added my story to their favs. I know, I'm horrible for never remembering names, but that's me. I glance at who added me and then delete the email, only to later ponder who added me, lol. At any rate, thank you all for your continuous support. It means a lot to me when I get reviews that are as helpful as the two of you, and to see the adds to peoples' favs list. I truly appreciate it.**

**Anyways, time to wrap things up. Perhaps in a week or two I'll do another challenge. I haven't decided on what though. If I do, hopefully I'll see some answers, hehe. At any rate, I'm done for today. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 34**

Yawning while stretching out on his branch, Iya glanced down at the camp. Noting Inuyasha and Kagome had not returned, he sighed.

"_Maybe I should go look for them..._" he mumbled within his mind, but quickly shook his head. "_No, both Inuyasha and Kagome are more than capable of defending themselves. I'm sure they just had another long session of talking._"

Seeing Ichigo was back, with his wounds healed from his own training, Iya softly smiled to see Orihime was close by. "_She must have healed him when he returned, or she went and found him and brought him back to heal. Either way, it's obvious that bobcat mage has eyes for him. I wonder if he'll even notice._"

Sighing softly, he took notice of the lone figure curled up close to a tree. Seeing her tail peeking out of the covers, Iya couldn't help but smile softly at the still figure of Lilly. The sun was playing on her face, making her bury herself deeper into the sleeping bag Kagome had given her.

"_She's so beautiful, no matter the time of day._" Iya mumbled deeply within his mind. Heavily sighing, he shook his head, grunting out "_No, I can't get attached to her, not now if I want to save her. Maybe after I've saved her, but I can't afford to be attached to her at this moment._"

Looking at her longingly once more, he sighed once more and looked away. "_I have to stay focused, no matter what happens. I may care about her, but I can't afford to have my feelings clouding my judgment._"

"_Heh, I sound like I'm trying to be Sesshomaru._" Iya mused.

Standing up, he sniffed the air, finding it heavy with the morning dew. Taking another sniff, he pinpointed a fresh water source and headed off towards it. Reaching the stream, he stripped out of his clothes and let his hair down, and proceeded to leap in. Scrubbing his body good, he glanced up at the sky and sighed.

"_At this rate, we may or may not catch the mages. I only hope they'll confront us. I mean, I know Kenshin and Kurama will want to confront us soon. After all, they're more than likely angry that I interrupted both their plans. Heh, they sent Kaia and Kimimaro thus far to fetch them, meaning they're beginning to grow impatient._"

Closing his eyes, he sighed. "_Kaia... Is it really possible you joined the mages, or that they found you back long ago and made you a slave? And if you are their slave, then does that mean you belong to Byakuya, or how are you affiliated with them? I just don't understand how you could join them if it was really you._"

Deciding thinking wasn't the best plan at the moment due that the group had lots of traveling left to do, he dunked himself under the water and scrubbed his hair. Finishing, he found some fish and threw them onto the bank to take to the others. Gathering up enough fish, he walked out of the stream and up onto the bank. Shaking himself roughly, he threw the water everywhere.

Dressing quickly, he used his claws to comb out his hair and retied it back with the ribbon he always carried. "_She gave me this ribbon..._" he mumbled within his mind.

Shaking his head, he growled softly to himself. "_Feeling sorry for myself isn't going to help things now. I need to stay focused on the task at hand._"

Placing Ketsaiga back into his obi sash, he picked up the fish and walked back towards camp. Arriving, he found all of the group of three were all up and moving about. Seeing Iya return, Ichigo took the fish and went off to clean them. Lilly had in the meantime restarted the fire while Orihime got some sticks out to cook the fish on.

"Has anyone seen Inuyasha or Kagome this morning?" Iya asked.

Both women shook their heads, making Iya frown. "They better get back soon, because we have a long day ahead of us, and we can't wait around on them all day." he grunted out.

Orihime and Lilly only looked at Iya with a touch of shock, but shrugged it off. The two engaged in conversation, leaving Iya to wait on Ichigo, who returned shortly with the cleaned up fish. Placing them onto the sticks to roast in the fire, Ichigo took up a seat next to Iya and sighed.

"Won't be too much longer, will it?" he asked Iya.

Frowning, Iya asked "Much longer till what?"

"Till we find those two miserable lowlifes." Ichigo strongly stated. Slamming his fist into his opened palm, he said "I can't wait to get my hands on that bastard. He'll pay for what he's done."

"I suppose so." Iya casually commented. "Just don't let your anger cloud your judgment during the fight."

Smirking, Ichigo sarcastically replied "Since when has that gotten in the way."

"I'm serious Ichigo." Iya sternly remarked. "I don't want to lose anyone else in this war against these mages."

Hearing the seriousness in Iya's voice, Ichigo smiled and warmly said "As if I'd let myself get cut down by one of those mages. Don't forget, I promised you I'd help beat every last one of them, and I never go back on my word."

"I know…" Iya quietly remarked. "But I'm concerned is all. I don't want to lose anyone in the upcoming fights. I began this mission alone, so I had no one to worry about."

Pausing for a moment while glancing at the fire, he slowly added "But now that you're here, and our other allies and friends, I can't help but worry about losing them. It's been a long time since I had friends that were even somewhat close to me, but over the last twenty years, me and you became friends. And now, we have the others, so I can't help but worry about their own wellbeing."

Silence enveloped the two for a moment till finally Ichigo calmly said "Iya, we will win, no matter what. You have my full support, your two brothers, and all the others. None of us are going to quit till these mages lie dead on the ground, so don't you give up either, alright?"

Softly chuckling, Iya nodded and replied "Thanks, I needed that."

"Good, now quit mopping around and eat some fish." Ichigo ordered.

Letting out another small chuckle, Iya nodded and picked up a fish. He called out to Lilly and Orihime, who quickly took their own fish. In the end, only four remained, two each for the two missing members of the group.

Getting slightly antsy, Iya stood and said "I'm going to go looking for them."

"Alright, we'll wait here." Ichigo replied while eyeing the remaining fish.

Throwing a hard glare at Ichigo, Iya hissed "Don't eat their fish!"

"I wasn't going to." Ichigo defensively replied with a weak smile. "I was just keeping an eye on them…"

"Right…" Iya remarked while walking off towards the woods, leaving the group of three behind.

--

Walking at a slow pace, Iya easily picked up Kagome and Inuyasha's old trail from the night before. Continuing to follow their trail, Iya frowned at the distance the two had gone away from camp.

"_He must have been angrier than I originally thought to run this far away from camp._"

Hearing something, Iya stopped and swiveled his ears. Listening closely, he heard talking and recognized the two voices that were approaching him. Soon enough, he got a glance at Kagome and Inuyasha, walking nearby hand in hand.

Inhaling their scents, he frowned slightly. "_Why does it smell like their scents have merged? I can distinguish whose is whose scent, but their scents are definitely mixed up together. Does that mean..._"

Shaking his head, Iya called out "Inuyasha, Kagome."

The two instantly glanced up at him, with Kagome smiling. Apologetically, Kagome rubbed the back of her head and said "Hey Iya. Sorry if we kept you waiting this morning. We kind of lost track of the time this morning."

Sniffing the air once more, Iya remained quiet and glanced from Inuyasha to Kagome, noting that both were shifting uncomfortably. Eyeing each suspiciously, he scanned both of their necks, looking for something specifically, which he found. Both had two dot like marks on their necks, confirming his suspicions.

"Kagome, would you do me a favor and go on ahead to camp. Breakfast is waiting for you." Iya kindly said.

Casting a worried glance at Inuyasha, who motioned for her to go on, she whispered lowly to him "Don't be long."

"I won't." he softly replied back. With that, Kagome left, leaving the brothers alone.

Once he was sure Kagome was far away enough to no longer hear them, Iya sighed heavily. "You mated, didn't you?" he asked.

"What's it to you if we did?" Inuyasha gruffly questioned.

Sadly smiling, Iya replied "I'm happy for you brother, really, but what you and her have done could be disastrous."

"How so!? We're just mated, that's all!"

Letting out a ragged sigh, Iya calmly said "That's the problem though. You each marked one another. I saw the marks on both of you."

"What, it's a problem that I don't want any other mate other than Kagome!?" Inuyasha harshly snapped out.

"No, it's not that. Inuyasha, I respect your wish to be with Kagome for the rest of your life, and I am truly happy for that, but do you know the risk you're running by letting her mark you?" Iya asked with concern on his face.

Frowning, Inuyasha snarled out "What difference does it matter!? We're lifetime mates! I won't take another, ever!"

"That's the very problem though." Iya remarked. "Inuyasha, let me ask you, what do you know about lifetime mates?"

Thinking for a moment, Inuyasha replied "They're mates for life. If one dies, the other will never mate again, more than likely."

"True, but there is more to it than you think there is." Iya shortly remarked. "The reason demons that mate for a lifetime never take another mate is due that their life forces are intertwined together with the one they mated with, making them into basically one entity. Should one die, the other will most assuredly die along with them."

Eyes widening, Inuyasha mumbled "You mean, mine and Kagome's life forces are tied together as one now?"

"Yes, I do mean that. And if you should happen to die, so will she. And should she die, you would die along with her. Do you understand now why I ask if you knew what you've done. You've tied both your lives together."

Seeing Inuyasha was in a bit of thought, Iya added lowly "If we fail to save her, and we do eventually kill Kurama, she will turn berserk and if we must kill her, you will die with her."

Snapping out of his haze, Inuyasha gruffly said "Feh, it doesn't matter. If Kagome died anyways, I'd die along with her inside. You don't understand our connection Iya."

Pausing for a moment, he added "Ever since I've met Kagome, we've shared a special connection. Without her, I grow weaker. I've come so close to losing her so many times, and each time I have, I felt my heart nearly break. The same goes for her. I know I've hurt her in the past, but I told her that no one else matters now. I meant that, and I promised my life to her. I swore to always protect her, and if that means that if I fail at that promise that I must die alongside of her, then so be it."

Noting the seriousness in Inuyasha's eyes and the tone behind his words, Iya heavily sighed and replied "I understand, little brother. I just hope that you keep her promise, not just for her, but for me also. I would be a bit sad without you."

"Iya…" Inuyasha mumbled with a touch of surprise. Receiving a smile from Iya, Inuyasha replied "Feh, like I'd fail to keep my promise to her. After all, she's my mate."

"Yeah…" Iya replied with a small smile.

--

Arriving back at camp alone, Kagome was first given breakfast, but Lilly continually glanced at Kagome curiously.

Finally unable to hold back her silence anymore, Lilly asked "Kagome, why do you smell like Inuyasha?"

Nearly choking on her fish, Kagome settled down and blushed furiously. She opened her mouth a few times to speak, but couldn't find the words. At long last, she chose her words and slowly said "Well, this morning, me and Inuyasha mated, so our scents are mixed together and very similar."

Both Lilly and Orihime broke out into squeals and big grins. The pair rushed forward and hugged their friend, each congratulating her over and over on her mating. Kagome was surprised at the attention she received but thanked both for their acceptance.

Distancing himself from the group, Ichigo moved to a nearby tree and began glancing away from the group, which concerned Orihime. She began to go to him when Iya and Inuyasha suddenly returned, making her stop in her tracks.

"Iya, did you hear, Inuyasha and Kagome mated!" Lilly happily told him with a fanged smile, making Kagome and Inuyasha blush once more.

Lightly chuckling, Iya nodded and replied "Yes, I've heard. Congratulations to you Kagome."

Shyly, she replied "Thanks."

"Well, Inuyasha, you better eat up. We have some traveling to do." Iya commented while motioning towards the two remaining fish on sticks.

Nodding, Inuyasha made quick work of them. Upon him finishing, Ichigo hopped out of his tree and irritably said "Let's get moving already. We lost enough time thanks to you two love birds."

"This isn't Kagome's fault…" Inuyasha began, but was cut off by Ichigo walking away from the group. "Hey! I wasn't done talking to you."

"Less talking, more moving." Ichigo called back.

Sighing, Iya said "We need to go. Let's hurry up and hit the road."

The rest of the group sighed and nodded, with each quickly gathering their things up that they had been carrying with them. Once packed up, the six took off running once more in a northeastern direction.

--

With only an hour before dark, the group finally came to rest. Iya had wished to stop at midday, but Ichigo had argued they didn't have time. Relenting to his partner, Iya had agreed to keep going due that the others said they could make it.

Selecting a spot to stay the night, Iya was about to ask Ichigo to go hunt for some dinner when he noted the young part bobcat was already gone. Scratching the back of his head, he sighed.

"Damn that Ichigo, where the hell did he get to?" he muttered.

"Uh, Iya?" Orihime spoke up, earning Iya's attention. "He walked off once we stopped."

Frowning, Iya folded his arms and lowly said "Ever since this morning, he's been unreasonably grouchy. Did anything happen while I was gone?"

Hesitating for a moment, Orihime smiled and weakly said "No, nothing that I know of."

Taking in her scent, Iya quickly deduced she was lying. "Orihime, please be truthful with me. I want to know, did something happen with Ichigo this morning when Kagome came back?"

Staring down at the ground with a guilty look, Orihime whispered "I'd rather not say."

"Orihime…" Iya began, but saw her look up quickly at him and say "I'll talk to him. Please, just let him be and let me talk with him. Maybe I can find out what is wrong with him, alright?"

With a heavy sigh, Iya said "Very well. I'll leave him to you."

"Thank you." Orihime kindly said with a bow. Rising up, she turned and walked off in the direction of the nearby dense forest.

--

Sitting in a tree by himself, Ichigo stared off in the distance of a set of rock cliffs. His attention was drawn towards it, sending his mind in turmoil.

"_Why, why now must something like this affect me so much!?_" he roared within his mind for the millionth time.

Closing his eyes, he saw in his mind the image of Kagome walking back into camp replaying. She had been smiling so sweetly, and her scent had alerted him immediately that she and Inuyasha had without a doubt mated. He had been somewhat alright with this till he had seen Inuyasha return later and saw that the half demon was sporting a mating mark himself. Seeing that mark, he had lost it in his mind and couldn't stand to be near the pair any longer.

He had been irritable ever since the rest of the day, pushing the group of half demons harder than usual. If not for the fact Iya had made it clear they were stopping when he had, they'd still be running.

Without warning, a raven haired young woman popped into his mind, making him quickly open his eyes. Growling deeply, he smashed his fist into the side of the tree, sending splinters flying into the air. "Damn it, why now!?"

"Why now what?" a soft voice asked, making Ichigo nearly fall out of the tree. Glancing down, he saw Orihime standing at the bottom of the tree with a look of concern on her face.

Ignoring her for a moment, he grunted out "Leave me be Orihime."

Paying no heed to his words, she leapt up into the tree and softly landed on the branch he sat on, causing it to sink down slightly. Softly smiling, she warmly said "You don't have to put up a front for me Ichigo. I can tell something is bothering you."

Looking away, he muttered "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you're in pain Ichigo." Orihime quietly mumbled, earning her a fierce glare from the orange haired quarter demon. Sadly smiling, she added "But it's alright. You can talk to me."

"What makes you think I want to talk about it!?" Ichigo harshly asked.

Meeting his fierce look with a kind smile, she replied "Because, talking about things makes the pain ease away. I know, because talking with my former master always made things seem so much better. No matter how much pain I was in, I always felt a bit lighter once I had talked things over with him."

Unable to any longer look into her kind face, Ichigo crossed his arms and spat out "You wouldn't understand what is bothering me."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Orihime slowly said "I may not, but I can try to help you and try to understand what is causing you pain. Iya is concerned about what's going on with you also, but I said I'd try to talk to you first. He cares about you, like myself and the others. So please, will you talk with me and tell me what's ailing you?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ichigo glanced at the young mage out of the corner of his eyes and muttered "If it will get you all off of my back, I guess I could."

Sitting quietly for a few minutes, Ichigo slowly said "What is bothering me is seeing Kagome and Inuyasha as mates. It reminds me of my former mate."

Letting out a small sigh, he continued on while glancing up at the sky. "You see, about twenty-five years ago, me and my mate were due to be married. I had grown up with her in a small village. My mother and father had settled there a year before I was born."

Sadly smiling, he added "My mom, Masaki, she was a half bobcat demon. Her father had been the clan leader of the Kurosaki Clan, but he had fallen in love with a human. The two had mated and produced my mother. My mom had tried to live like a bobcat demon, but in the end, decided to no longer live with them, for it was too hard of a life for a half demon in the clan. She left the clan and met my father, a human named Isshin."

Slightly chuckling, he softly said "The two fell in love with one another instantly, with my father not caring about her heritage. Soon enough, the pair mated and I was born a year or so later. We lived in a small village, but life wasn't hard. The humans there accepted my mom and myself included. They knew what we were, and yet they didn't care about it really. I guess that was due that my parents had become guardians for the village, so it didn't matter what their heritage was."

"While growing up, I met some nice friends. The one I remember the most was Rukia Abarai. She was a young girl that took to being my friend immediately. Soon enough, me and her brother, Renji, became great friends also. There were others in the village, but me and Rukia shared a special connection."

Blushing slightly, Ichigo said "Eventually, when I turned sixteen, I realized that I had feelings for Rukia, and she had also developed them for me. I asked her parents and my own about courting Rukia. Both sets agreed to it, with Rukia's parents stipulating that we do nothing foolish until we married when we turned eighteen. I of course agreed, along with Rukia."

"When we had both turned eighteen, it was decided that we'd marry a month later. I remember how excited I had been. Rukia and I had courted for the last two years, and we had kept our promises to do nothing. I was more excited due that Rukia would finally be with me, and that I could take her as my mate once we had married. She was excited as well, and we both couldn't wait."

Quieting for a moment, he slowly said "If only we had known what was coming next, we'd have wished for so much less."

Noting the sadness filling the young man's face, Orihime began to speak, but Ichigo continued on instead. "It was the day before our wedding, and all of our families had gathered together to celebrate it. Everyone in the village had come together for the occasion. No one expected anything to go wrong, but they were so wrong…"

--

A young woman with black locks of hair that fell to her shoulder blades, with violet colored eyes, creamy white skin, and a petit frame smiled at the people mingling. She wore a brilliant yellow kimono that draped down to her feet and barely covered her feet that had sandals on.

"Hey Rukia!" Ichigo called out, making the young woman smile even more as he approached her.

Reaching her, Ichigo smiled and placed a feathery kiss on her lips. Pulling back, he smiled once more and asked "Enjoying yourself at the party thus far?"

"Yes, I am." Rukia replied with a small smile.

Approaching the pair arm in arm was a man with spiky black hair that stood up somewhat, with a small goatee. His eyes were brown, which held softness, while at the same time some hardness. His clothing was a simple set of grey pants and kimono top, tied together with a green obi, which held a sword in it. Beside of him was a woman with orangish-brown hair that fell to her lower back. She had blue eyes with pointy cat like ears and sharpened claws on her hands. She wore a pink colored kimono that had yellow butterflies woven all over it and a sword on her hip.

Reaching Ichigo and Rukia, the man smiled and put a gentle hand on Rukia's shoulder, warmly saying "Me and Masaki are proud of you two kids for waiting this long for tomorrow."

Bowing lightly, Rukia humbly said "Thank you Kurosaki-san…"

"No, no, don't call me that!" the man said. "Call me Isshin. That's my name. After all, you're soon to be my daughter-in-law, so no need for honorifics any longer."

Smiling softly, Rukia nodded and replied "Thank you Isshin."

"No problem at all. Have you seen your parents yet?" Isshin asked curiously.

Shaking her head, Rukia replied "No, not yet, but momma had mentioned that father had a lot of work to do today before the party, and that he may be late."

"Hopefully not too late, but you never know. He's a good man." Isshin commented. "I did see your brother already."

"Yeah, Renji is here. Father must have let him leave early, so maybe my father will be along soon." Rukia cheerily said.

Nodding, Isshin and Masaki walked off, leaving the happy couple alone. Taking hold of Rukia's hand, Ichigo flashed a fanged smile at her and said "Just think, another day and we'll be married."

Resting her head on his shoulder, she quietly said "I can't wait. I want to be yours and yours alone."

"And I yours." Ichigo added with a small smile while patting her head.

Hearing a chuckle, Ichigo turned his head to spot a young man with long red hair bound up in a ponytail that reached his mid-back. He had strange reddish eyes that gave the impression that he was a demon, when in fact he was human. He wore a brown pair of pants and kimono top, with a white obi sash the held his sword in place.

"You two look rather cozy." the young man commented with a smirk.

With a vein popping out in her forehead, Rukia snapped out "Can it Renji!"

Laughing at the feuding siblings, Ichigo calmly said "You two go ahead and fight it out. I'll get a betting pool going to see who will win this fight."

"You know I would." Renji bragged, only to get smacked in the head by Rukia's fist, making him grab his newly forming bump. "Ow! What the hell was that for!?"

Growling lowly, Rukia smugly said "For being an idiot!"

"Why you!" Renji growled out.

Laughing at the siblings, Ichigo finally stopped and realized he felt a new presence close by. Glancing across towards the area where people had been coming into the area, he saw the new presence wore a set of black robes and was concealed from head to toe. A sword could be seen poking out of the robes, but that was the only distinguishable thing that could be seen.

Quietly, the figure walked forward till he was ten feet away from Ichigo. Rukia and Renji instantly noted the new presence themselves and stopped squabbling long enough to examine the stranger.

"Welcome stranger." Ichigo calmly said and moved forward, closing the gap. "I take it you're passing through our village?"

Removing his hood, the stranger revealed his face. He had long red hair bound in a ponytail, had violet colored eyes, and a cross shaped scar on his face. Smiling, he kindly said "That I am, yes indeed."

"Well, welcome to our village. As you can see, we're celebrating right now." Ichigo pointed out. Stepping back and taking hold of Rukia's hand, he warmly said "Me and my intended are celebrating, for tomorrow we will have our marriage."

Nodding, the stranger calmly said "Ah, a celebration. Good times, that they are. And it seems I have arrived just in time then, that it does."

"How so stranger?" Ichigo asked with a look of confusion.

Smiling, the stranger drew his sword and rushed forward in blinding speed and had a hold of Ichigo by the throat with one hand in a flash. Still smiling, the stranger said "It is good that I came, because now I have found my new slave in your intended."

Attempting to break the hold on his neck, Ichigo scratched and clawed with all his might, but was unable to break the hold. Seeing his friend was in trouble, Renji charged forward with his sword drawn.

"YOU BASTARD, LET HIM GO!" Renji cried out while swinging his sword at the red haired stranger.

The stranger instantly let go of Ichigo and sidestepped Renji's attack. Coming around at blazing fast speed, the stranger buried his sword into Renji's chest. Renji gasped in complete shock while feeling blood rushing out of his body and seeping down his mouth.

Staring in complete shock, Rukia rushed forward, screaming "RENJI!"

Withdrawing his sword wordlessly, the stranger let Renji fall down to the ground with a sickening thud while blood spurted out of his body. "Rukia, run…" Renji muttered with his eyes dimming.

"GET OUT OF HERE RUKIA!" Ichigo yelled while getting to his feet and drawing his own sword from his side. Running forward, he attempted to slash the stranger in half, only to be parried instead by the stranger, who was holding him back one handed.

Smiling, the red headed stranger calmly said "Angry you've become, that you have."

"You bastard, I'll kill you for what you did to Renji!" Ichigo yelled angrily while grinding his sword against the stranger's.

Continuing to grind sword against sword, Ichigo finally drew his sword back and swung again, only to be parried once more. Again and again, Ichigo went on the attack, only to be parried constantly by the stranger with one hand. Infuriated, Ichigo didn't have time to react when suddenly the stranger vanished before his eyes and reappeared behind him.

Without hesitation, the stranger plunged his sword through Ichigo's back and through his chest. Blood went spattering to the ground instantly, making Ichigo scream out in pain. The stranger's sword soon quickly was pulled back out of Ichigo's body, leaving him to fall to the ground and whimper in pain while blood poured out of his body.

"Remember the pain from my sword, that you should. Spared your life, that I did." the stranger remarked.

Moving away from Ichigo, he turned towards Rukia, who was frozen in place with a look of utter horror on her face. "Ichigo…" she worriedly whispered.

"YOU'LL DIE FOR HARMING MY SON!" a shout cried out and the sound of metal clanging filled the air.

Everyone that was still at the fight glanced up, seeing Isshin had his sword grinding against the stranger's. "I'll kill you for what you did to my son and Rukia's family!" he angrily declared.

Meeting Isshin's look with a smile, the stranger calmly said "You are not strong enough to make such threats, that you are not."

Without another word, the stranger stepped back and swung around, slashing Isshin across the chest with blinding speed. Isshin didn't have a chance to say anything before he dropped to the ground dead.

"NOOOO!!" Ichigo screamed out while trying to stand once more, but found his body wouldn't obey him.

Passing by him without a word was his mother, whose eyes were blazing red while tears slid down her cheeks. Blue stripes ran down the sides of her cheeks while she let out an infuriated roar. Elongated fangs poked out her mouth while her claws were longer and more deadly than ever. Drawing her sword, she slammed it into the stranger's with all her power while a red demonic aura dangerously flared out of her body.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARRD! THAT WAS MY MATE!" she roared while slamming her sword repeatedly into the stranger's, who now used two hands to keep his sword steady.

Again and again, she slammed her sword into the stranger's who managed to parry her every attack. The expression on the stranger's face had changed though, for no longer was he smiling, but seemingly set into deep concentration. Slowly, his eyes were changing from their innocent violet color to a red tinted color.

At long last, the stranger leapt backwards fifteen feet, giving him some room from Masaki's relentless attacks. A cold smirk appeared on his face while he drew his sheath out of his obi and sheathed his sword before his body. Pulling the sheath to the left side of his body while his right hand rested on the hilt, he sneered at the transformed half bobcat demon.

"Come bitch and taste a sample of my true power." he coldly remarked while hiding his eyes below his bangs.

Infuriated by his words, Masaki blindly rushed forward with speed that no one had ever seen her produce before. She was nearly to the stranger when suddenly he drew his sword with god like speed, slashing deeply into Masaki's chest. Shock and surprise appeared across her face as blood spurted into the air. She instantly fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Her demonic aura flared violently out for a moment, but then flickered and completely vanished altogether. Her features returned to normal while she let out a ragged cough, instantly hacking up a pool of crimson liquid. Weakly, she crawled away from the stranger to the corpse of Isshin.

Reaching her mate's corpse, she grabbed his hand and weakly said "I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough to avenge you…"

In a mere whisper, she whimpered out "I love you…"


	35. Chapter 35: Broken Past, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, this weekend was pretty nice since it was a three day weekend. Friday, I really did nothing, other than go with my dad to pick up a few things. Other than that, when I got home, I decided to go to work to check on my email and stuff. My poor mate had to work both Friday and Saturday evenings, which sucked. Saturday, I went and visited my grandparents, which was a nice time. Yesterday, not too much happened. We went to church, saw my mate's family, did our shopping for the week, and came back home like always. That was pretty much my lovely 3 day weekend, hehe. So exciting, eh?**

**Writing wise, things are moving along nicely with this story, although it seems like I never get much done on it or my other story. (/Sighs\) Oh well, things are good with both at least, which I'm happy about.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yeah, that last chapter was a bit of a sad one. Is it Kenshin you ask? Well, I suppose you'll find out soon enough, hehe. I know, quit being evil, but that's my nature, lol. Heh, wow, you have it out for him, like really bad. OUCH! Wow, you're especially cruel towards Kenshin. It's cool about coming late. I know the virus thing is irritating. Thanks for the review in any case.**

**Kattana: Yes, it was a bit of a sad chapter. Lol, poor Kattana. Heh, I knew you didn't mean to insinuate that Sesshomaru is gay, or that I was going to make him. Hehe, that was just be a bit strange. Glad you liked finding out about Ichigo's family, and to the reason that he's always so grumpy. There is more to it than what you saw though, so don't be too surprised when you find more of the reasons, hehe. Yeah, everyone needed to know what had happened to the quarter demon, even if it is a bit sad. Thank you for the review!**

**Well, that's that for the reviews. Thank you both for your continuous support. It means a lot when I get your two's reviews and see what each of you have to say about my story. I mean it, it really helps me in developing and writing this story. So, I truly thank both of you for your reviews.**

**And thank you to the person who added me to their fav stories list. I'm getting so many favs adds, which is so cool. I do encourage whoever adds me though to feel free to review. I won't bite your heads off. I may seem like the type, lol, but I won't. But seriously, if anyone has any comments, questions, etc., feel free to review or PM me. I'm more than happy to answer any of the above, so long as it doesn't give away the plot.**

**At any rate, I need to be going. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 35**

With her final words, Masaki died beside of Isshin, making Ichigo's eyes go wide. He struggled even more than before to stand up, but found he still couldn't. Noting Rukia was frozen in place with tears falling down her cheeks, he realized she was in tremendous danger.

"RUKIA, RUN!" Ichigo cried out, earning his intended's attention.

Before Rukia had a chance to react, the stranger was before her. Smiling at her with a kind smile, he held his hands up and said "Now, now, you aren't going anywhere."

Rukia was about to protest before the stranger began murmuring a chant that was in a strange language that she had never heard before. Suddenly, her body began to feel heavy and her eyes sagged. She soon enough passed out onto the ground while the stranger continued to chant over her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ichigo protested, but was ignored.

Finally, the stranger stopped chanted and let out a small sigh. Stooping down, he began to gather Rukia up in his arms when a figure appeared behind him.

"Hey there, what are you doing with Ichigo's intended?" the figure asked.

Staring at the new figure, Ichigo saw that he had a green and white striped round hat with a long brim that covered blonde hair that fell to his lower neck. For the most part, his hat hid his eyes in shade, but moving slightly, the color of his eyes was seen to be a light grey color. He had a scruffy bit of facial hair, but there was very little. His clothing was somewhat simple, with a green coat that had short sleeves, but the bottom of it reached his knees, which had white diamond designs etched into the bottom of it. Under his coat was a green kimono top with green pants. He wore wooden sandals that raised his height, and held a wooden cane.

"Well, you going to answer me?" the man in the hat asked once more with a carefree tone.

Setting Rukia down, the red haired stranger stood and slowly turned around to face the new figure. Smiling, he calmly asked "You would be Kisuke Urahara, wouldn't you?"

"You got that right, Mage Kenshin of The Thirteen." Urahara responded with a chipper tone. "I take it you're here to take Ichigo's intended away, seeing how you just cast a spell on her."

"That I am. Are you going to stand in my way?" Kenshin questioned in a serious tone.

Nodding, Urahara calmly replied "You bet your ass I am. I don't take kindly to people taking family friends away."

Silence enveloped the pair for a moment till both suddenly vanished. Reappearing fifteen feet away were both, with Kisuke holding half of his cane in his left hand while the other hand held the other half, which was revealed to have a black and silver sword within it.

"You're pretty fast for a sword smith, that you are." Kenshin commented.

Tossing the wooden half of his sword to the ground, Urahara turned towards Kenshin and calmly replied "Thanks, and you're not too bad for a mage. I guess I'll have to be serious in fighting you. Been a while since I've had to use this."

Clutching his cane's handle tightly, in a serious tone, Kisuke said "Awaken now Benihime!"

Glowing brightly with a red glow, the wooden cane handle and the rest of the sword transformed within Kisuke's hand. A moment later, the transformation was over, revealing a black and silver blade that was a bit longer than the previous sword, with a dull gold "u" shaped guard, and a hilt that was straight for a while till it curved slightly near the end. On the end of the hilt was a red tassel, while below the guard was a red ribbon.

Staring one another down, the pair stood in silence till Kenshin rushed forward. Kisuke easily parried the attack, but that didn't stop Kenshin from trying to attack him again. Time after time, the pair's blades clashed with one another. After a few minutes, the pair vanished, only to reappear randomly in different spots, with each time their blades clashing against one another.

Five minutes later, the pair reappeared with ten feet between each. Neither had broken out into a sweat yet, nor was either panting. Finally, Kenshin let out a loud sigh and sheathed his sword.

"I see. For now, I shall retreat, but you know that she will be mine soon enough." he calmly commented.

"Yeah…" Urahara quietly muttered.

Turning towards Ichigo, Kenshin smiled and said "Enjoy your time with her, for soon enough, she will be mine, that she will."

With that said, he turned away and began walking away quietly. Pulling his hood over his head, he soon vanished into nothingness.

Letting out a ragged sigh, Kisuke held his sword out and waited for a moment before it's transformation reversed, leaving him with cane handled sword once more. Picking up it's wooden sheath, he replaced it and walked over to the dead body of Masaki. Removing his hat, he held it over his heart.

"I'm sorry I was late Masaki. If I had known that mage would be here, I'd have come faster. Forgive an old fool for not being here when you needed me the most." he quietly said over the two fallen bodies.

Turning away, Urahara walked over to Ichigo, who was barely conscious. Glancing over his wounds, Urahara sighed and said "You're going to live kid, but you're pretty banged up. Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

--

Seeing the shocked expression on Orihime's face, Ichigo sighed and calmly said "Hat-and-Clogs, I mean Urahara, took care of me that day and fixed up my wounds. In the end, my parents, along with Renji, were buried. Rukia was left in a deep sleep, which hurt more than anything else. Hat-and-Clogs eventually explained things to me, telling me about The Thirteen, what they were up to, what would happen to Rukia, and the end result. He also informed me that I had thirty days to save her before she'd become Kenshin's slave. I didn't take it well, but I tried to be strong. I then asked the only thing that came to mind."

--

"Isn't there any way for me to get strong enough to take that bastard down!?" Ichigo impatiently asked.

Sighing heavily, Kisuke thought for a moment before finally saying "There is a way for you to get strong enough, but it will take a bit of time. Do you want to take that time?"

"Of course, if it will help me kill Kenshin and save Rukia!" Ichigo snapped back.

"Well then, there is only one thing to do." Urahara informed. "You're to come with me once Rukia awakens back to my home to receive a gift your grandfather left you and to receive some special training."

Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo asked "Special training? Do I have time for that!?"

"If you want to save Rukia, you will. It will take a total of ten days, if things go right." Kisuke commented. "Of course, if you're a slow learner, it may take longer. Hopefully though, you'll figure things out."

Glancing at Ichigo, Kisuke asked "Are you sure you want to come with me?"

"Like I have a choice." Ichigo snapped. His eyes soon enough strayed over at Rukia's silent form, making him add "I will do whatever it takes to save her."

"Then it's settled." Urahara said while clapping his hands. "Once she awakens tomorrow, we'll head out."

--

"That night, Rukia transformed into a half neko demon, much like how Lilly had. Her looks were nearly the same as before, with exception of a tail and cat ears, along with fangs and claws." Ichigo calmly said to Orihime. "When she awoke, she understood what had happened and accepted it. Urahara took us to his home, where all hell began to break loose."

--

Arriving at a small barren area, with exception of a garden, Ichigo frowned while Urahara walked into a hut. Following behind with Rukia, whose nose twitched while she took in the new scents, Ichigo's frown deepened.

"So Hat-and-Clogs, this is it? This is your home?" Ichigo asked irritably.

Disappearing into a room, Urahara called out "Sure is. Just drop your stuff there. They'll be time to unpack later."

Returning a moment later with something wrapped in white cloth, Urahara threw it at Ichigo, who barely managed to catch it. Glancing at the object in his hands and back at Urahara, he asked "What the hell is this?"

"Take the cloth off and you'll find out." Urahara commented while taking a seat at his low table that sat in the middle of the room.

Grunting with irritation, Ichigo removed the cloth, revealing a sword's hilt that sat within a sheath. The hilt was wrapped in red cloth with two pieces of blue cloth hanging off the end of it and a golden guard. Drawing the sword, Ichgio heard Rukia gasp at the length and size of the sword.

"It's a halberd…" Rukia mumbled lowly.

Smirking, Urahara calmly said "That sword has been in your family's clan for many a generation now. Your grandfather was last to wield it. He wanted to give it to your mother, but she passed on it, so he decided to send it to me to hold onto till you were old enough to have it. I'd say now is the time that you need it."

Looking the sword over, Ichigo saw that the blade was finely sharpened, but wasn't too heavy for him due to his demonic strength. Sheathing the sword, he said "Thanks. I'm guessing you're going to train me to use it, right?"

"You betcha." Urahara casually remarked. "That sword has a name, but it's up to you to find it out. That will be your training."

Scowling while a vein in his forehead was popping out, Ichigo yelled "What the hell kind of training is that!? You should know the sword's name!"

"That I should, and do, but I can't tell you." Urahara responded calmly. "You see, I made that sword, but it chose a name for itself, not me. Each and every sword I've created has always named itself. The sword I carry, Benihime, named itself as well, and that sword you hold has a name also. It's up to you to talk with it's spirit and find it out."

"And if I don't?" Ichigo asked irritably.

Shrugging, Urahara casually replied "Then you'll never get strong enough to face Kenshin. To beat him, you'll need to master that sword. In order to do that, you must learn it's name."

Processing the information Urahara had given him just then, Ichigo gripped the hilt of the sword tightly and said "Then let's get started. How do I learn the sword's name?"

"Good question." Urahara remarked. Standing, he walked out of the house, indicating Ichigo should follow. Reaching the outside, Urahara calmly said "To learn to speak with your sword, you must train with it. And to help you train will be myself."

Drawing his own sword out of the cane, Urahara threw the empty wooden sheath off to the side. Understanding what was happening, Ichigo strapped the sheathed sword to his back and quickly drew the sword.

"Rukia, stay back while I do this. It shouldn't take too long." he smugly commented.

Smirking, Urahara calmly asked "Someone is a bit overconfident, aren't they?"

"I have no reason to not be. My mother and father taught me swordsmanship while I lived with them my entire life. I was brought up to wield a sword, so facing you shouldn't be too hard." Ichigo explained.

"I wouldn't be so sure that the training you got from your parents will help you here Ichigo." Urahara informed. "They were a human and a half demon. Me, I'm a full fledged demon with far more strength. Don't think I'll go easy on you just because of my relationship with your family."

"Ah shut up and fight already!" Ichigo irritably declared.

Smirking, Urahara calmly replied "As you wish."

In an instant, Urahara vanished, only to reappear on Ichigo's right side and swinging his sword. Ichigo reacted slowly and blocked the attack, but barely.

"Heh, not bad, you managed to dodge my first attack. Congratulations student."

"Oh shut it Hat-and-Clogs and fight for real!" Ichigo growled out.

Shrugging, Urahara calmly said "Well, you asked for it."

Vanishing once more, he reappeared before Ichigo. Before Ichigo even had a chance to counter, Urahara delivered a powerful kick to Ichigo's chest, sending him sailing backwards through the air. He soon enough landed on the ground, coughing loudly, but had no chance to recover. The sound of wood smacking the ground was thundering towards him, alerting him that Urahara was on the offensive. He moved at the last second just as Urahara's sword struck the ground.

--

"Our training continued like that for five days straight." Ichigo commented, earning him a gasp of shock from Orihime. "We fought throughout the day, taking breaks occasionally for me to be patched up or to rest shortly. Hat-and-Clogs continued pushing me harder and harder, drawing blood constantly. Thinking back now, I know for certain he was pushing me hard due that he knew it was the only way for me to learn to unlock the power of Zangetsu. But I couldn't understand it then. I just didn't understand."

Lightly chuckling, he added "Hat-and-Clogs though, he knew it was helping me, so he continued to pummel me daily. Finally, the end of the fifth day came, and I was at my limit."

--

Panting heavily, Ichigo leaned heavily on his halberd, glaring at the man before him that was quietly walking towards him with his sword on his shoulder.

"Ichigo, Ichigo, Ichigo, where did I go wrong with your training?" Urahara casually questioned aloud. "I've done nothing but push you harder than you've been pushed in your entire life, yet you've not learned your sword's name."

"I CAN HEAR THE DAMN THING THOUGH!" Ichigo fired back angrily.

"It doesn't matter." Urahara commented with a sigh. "Knowing how to talk to your sword and knowing it's name are two different things entirely. If you hope to beat Kenshin, you'd better learn it's name. Or else, Rukia over there will become his personal slave."

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, Ichigo pulled the sword from the ground and charged forward in a blind rage. "I will learn my sword's name!" he roared out.

Sighing, Urahara parried Ichigo's attack easily with one hand. "Ichigo, you still don't understand. Learning your sword's name is very important."

Pushing Ichigo back with his sword, Urahara stared down the young man. "I can see now you're never going to learn that sword's name." Urahara calmly remarked.

With no warning, Urahara's red demonic aura flared up around his body while he said "I think it's only fair I warn you that if you try to go against me with that inferior weapon, I will kill you."

Eyes widening, Ichigo barely managed to parry a fresh attack from Urahara, who had attacked with blinding fast speed. Again and again, Urahara struck out at Ichigo. He barely managed to block each attack, taking a few small slashes the times he had not blocked.

"_He's… he's not kidding! He's actually going to kill me this time! I've got to get away!_" Ichigo screamed in his mind with fear while turning and running away from Urahara, who gave chase.

Staring wide eyed at Urahara, who had managed to get beside of him and attempted to slash him, Ichigo managed to barely dodge. "_This is so pathetic! What am I doing!? Why am I running away!? Is this all the backbone I have to try and save Rukia!? Am I just a coward after all!? A complete phony!?_"

Managing to barely dodge another attack, he growled in his mind "_I'm so disgusted with myself! How pathetic! It's pathetic! Pathetic!_"

"_Yes, that's you._" an older man's voice declared in his head, making Ichigo's eyes widen while before him stood the owner to the voice. It was an older man with dark brown hair that fell to his mid-back, with scruffy stubble on his face and wearing a pair of sunglasses to cover his eyes. His clothing was a simple black flowing trench coat with a white under shirt.

Staring at the man, Ichigo mumbled in his mind "_Master..._"

"_Why are you running away, Ichigo?_" the man questioned. "_You still haven't called me yet. Face forward Ichigo! And you should be able to hear it now. The only thing plugging your ears is your own fear._"

Without warning, Ichigo suddenly stopped running, making Urahara stop a short distance away. Staring at the youth's back, he smirked and drew his sword up and prepared to move in for his attack.

"_There is only one enemy and only one of you, so what is there to be afraid of?_" the man asked while behind Ichigo in his mind.

Noting Ichigo was now holding the hilt of his sword tighter, the man said "_Abandon your fear! Turn and face him! Don't give an inch!_"

Upon the older man saying these words, Ichigo drew his sword to his left side while a light blue aura enveloped him and his sword.

"_Now Ichigo, advance! Never stop! If you retreat, you will age! Be afraid and you'll die!_"

In a loud yell, he screamed "_NOW SHOUT OUT MY NAME!_"

Swinging around quickly while drawing his sword back forward, Ichigo screamed out "ZANGETSU!"

Slamming the sword into the ground, a beam of light blue energy went racing forward, which Urahara dodged easily by side stepping it. Dust and sand was instantly kicked up into the air, obscuring Ichigo for a moment. With the dust settling, Ichigo became visible and was on one knee with a new blade before him that was dug into the ground. The blade was in the shape of a large cleaver knife, with a mostly black blade with silver on the edge. On the hilt was a white cloth that covered it, but there was no guard.

Standing, Ichigo pulled the sword from the ground and examined it. Noting the transformation, he inwardly smiled and silently said "_Thank you Zangetsu._"

"Well, it's about time." Urahara commented with a chipper tone. "Now that you managed to draw your zanpakutō, you should be able to stand a chance at long last against Kenshin. Of course, you'll need more training, but…"

"Don't take this the wrong way Mr. Urahara, but I hope you dodge this." Ichigo calmly said.

Frowning, Urahara asked "What?"

"Because I can't control it yet!" Ichigo declared while raising his sword into the air before him with both hands.

Eyes widening, Urahara cried out while turning his sword towards Ichigo "Scream Benihime!"

Slamming his sword downwards, Ichigo unleashed a beam of white blinding light straight towards Urahara. Before him, a blood colored energy barrier appeared, absorbing most of the blast, but part of the barrier broke away instantly from the intense amount of energy behind the blast of energy that Ichigo released.

Dust flew through the air, obscuring everyone's vision. Soon enough, the dust settled, revealing Urahara's hat floating through the air with a cut mark through the right side of it. Releasing the barrier at long last, Urahara let out a small sigh while his sword had smoke pouring off of it's blade. "Good thing I protected myself with my Blood Mist Shield, otherwise I'd have lost an arm just now."

Seeing his hat landing beside of him, he reached over and picked it up. Dusting it off, he frowned at the piece missing from it and slowly said "That wasn't very nice. I do believe you killed my hat."

Placing the hat back onto his head, he turned towards Ichigo and declared in a chipper tone "Impressive. I didn't expect you could do that yet with just a single swing of your sword."

Smiling at the form of Ichigo, who had slumped over onto the ground asleep, Urahara calmly said "Ichigo, you are one frightening kid, you know that."

--

"So what happened next?" Orihime asked curiously.

Smirking at her enthusiasm, Ichigo calmly said "I continued to train under Urahara's watchful eye for another five days. Upon finishing my training, he gave us a direction and sent us out."

Taking a deep breath while softly smiling, he added "Along the way, me and Rukia made a decision. We decided to mate, with me only marking her. She was to mark me back once we had defeated Kenshin."

Noting a bit of sadness in his words at the end, Orihime softly asked "She refused to mark you before then, didn't she?"

Not responding, Ichigo finally said "We continued on till there were only three days left. We then caught up with Kenshin. But the battle didn't go well. I was seriously injured in the fight, and left to die. He left Rukia behind though, saying she was to watch me die a miserable death, but that didn't happen."

"My wounds healed somewhat, which I don't think Kenshin was expecting. He had thought my wounds had been bad enough to kill me slowly, but they weren't, luckily, or unluckily I suppose." Ichigo bit out. "I laid on my back for two and a half days, trying to heal so we could catch up with Kenshin, but to no avail. My wounds wouldn't fully heal over for a few more days, and time was running out."

--

"Rukia, I swear, I'm healed up enough…" Ichigo began while trying to sit up, but was pushed back down and cut off by Rukia placing a finger over his lips.

Shaking her head sadly, she weakly smiled and said "I know you're not healed enough to move about Ichigo. It's alright."

Looking away, he miserably muttered "It's not alright… I failed you."

"No Ichigo!" Rukia declared while cupping his cheek and forcing him to look at her. Her eyes were misting up when she added "It's not your fault Ichigo. I don't blame you at all for what has happened. I had a good life, and met the love of my life."

Weakly smiling, she softly said "And now, I have a final request to ask of you."

"What is it? I'll do anything!" Ichigo prompted.

Sadly smiling, she quietly said "I want you to kill me Ichigo."

Eyes widening at her request, he looked away. Tears began to slide down his cheeks while he whispered "I can't do that."

"Please Ichigo." she pleaded. "I want to be released from this life before Kenshin can take me as his slave and use me as a tool to hurt people, or make me be with him in bed. I don't want that kind of life. I'd rather die than join him."

Clenching his right hand tightly till blood came from where his claws dug into his palms, Ichigo miserably said "But Rukia… I can't do that to you. I swore to protect you, to not let you die."

Cupping his cheek gently, she pleadingly said "I know, and I wouldn't ask anyone else in this world to do this but you. I trust you, for you're my mate. I love you, with all my heart and soul, and I don't want to be in this world if I can't be by your side any longer. I won't let that spell force me away from you."

"Rukia…" Ichigo began, but felt more hot tears pour down his cheeks.

Letting her own tears fall, Rukia quietly said "If you won't do this for me, then I will do it myself. I would much rather let you do this for me though."

Tightly clenching his hands, Ichigo miserably looked at her sadly. "Rukia… We have a little time before you have to go."

"I know… and I want to spend every moment with you that I possibly can." she lovingly replied.

Wiping her tears away gently, Ichigo pulled her down to him and pressed his lips to her own, locking the two in a deep kiss.

--

"We made love for several hours before realizing she only had an hour or two left before Kenshin's spell would take hold." Ichigo muttered miserably. Clenching his eyes shut, he bit out "That day is forever burned into my memory, no matter what, I can always recall the last moments of her life clearly."

--

Walking out to a cliff, hand in hand, Ichigo came to a stop while watching the sun descending in the sky. Rukia held onto his hand for dear life, seemingly never wanting to release him.

Glancing at her, he sadly smiled and cupped her cheek. "You are so beautiful." he weakly said while trying to hold his tears back.

Leaning more into his touch, Rukia closed her eyes and replied "I've been so lucky to be with you for all this time Ichigo. I can truly say being with you, I have no regrets."

Inhaling her scent, Ichigo leaned over and captured Rukia's lips in a deep kiss, putting all of his emotions into it, showing every bit of his love for her. Rukia returned the kiss with as much emotion, displaying all that she felt.

At long last, the pair broke the kiss, each pulling back panting and leaning their foreheads together. First to pull back, Ichigo gazed down at Rukia while she tilted her head up to stare at him. The pair looked deeply within one another's eyes, with Ichigo becoming lost in her violet colored ones and Rukia losing all thought in Ichigo's brown ones.

The two finally broke the stare and Ichigo glanced at the sun. Realizing time was fleeting, he turned away, feeling his emotions roaring within him over what he knew was coming.

"Ichigo, it's time." Rukia spoke up. It took all of his will to not turn around. Finally, he turned whenever he felt her hand land on his shoulder, making him spin to face her.

Weakly smiling at him, Rukia quietly said "Ichigo, I want you to promise me something."

"I'll do anything." he whispered while holding back his tears.

Cupping his cheek, Rukia softly said "Live on for me, please. Don't let my death be the end of your life. I want you to live on, and be happy. Please, rebuild your life, and don't let my death consume you, please."

Gripping her hand tightly, Ichigo lowly said "I can't promise you I'll ever rebuild my life, but I will try. I will try to live on. And I vow to you, I will kill Kenshin so that no one ever has to suffer through this kind of pain."

"Thank you…" Rukia whispered weakly. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek once more and reached up, placing her lips on his own. The kiss was soft and gentle.

Finally breaking the kiss up, she stepped away. Tears were already welling up in her eyes, but she didn't let them spill. Once she was a few feet away, she looked up at Ichigo with glassy eyes.

"I'm ready…" she said in a mere whisper.

Shaking, Ichigo lowered his head so that his bangs hid his eyes. Reaching up to grasp the hilt of his sword on his back, he slowly drew it out of it's sheath. Holding it before him, he softly said "Zangetsu…"

The sword glowed with a light blue demonic aura for a moment till it transformed into it's cleaver blade form. Still unable to look up at Rukia, he drew back the sword.

"Rukia… I love you with all my heart and soul. I swear to you, I will kill Kenshin!" Ichigo vowed, earning him a nod from his mate.

Gripping the sword's hilt tightly, he lunged forward, plunging his sword deep into his mate's heart. There was a sudden gasp from the pain Rukia experienced, but then she weakly smiled while blood poured out her mouth and from her wound.

"I love you Ichigo. Never forget that. Thank you for the life you shared with me." she softly murmured while her eyes got heavy.

Withdrawing his sword and dropping it to the ground, Ichigo caught Rukia before she could hit the ground. Holding her in his arms, tears rolled down his cheeks. Letting out a loud sob, he screamed out in agony.

--

With a few tears rolling down his cheeks, Ichigo quietly said "I sat there holding Rukia's body for two nights straight. Kenshin never came looking for her. I think he knew already, or had seen me sitting there. To me, it didn't matter. Kenshin could have run me through and I'd have never noticed."

Weakly looking at Ichigo, Orihime began to say something, but Ichigo interrupted. In a bit of an agitated voice, he said "That's when Zangetsu talked with me for the second time."

--

Sitting on the ground while the sun came up for the second time in two days, Ichigo continued to hug the body of Rukia in his arms. He had cried out all of his tears the first day, but had found new ones the day before. For now though, he just sat on the ledge where he had taken Rukia and held her. Her blood had dried over and still stained his clothing.

Since running Rukia through with Zangetsu, he had not moved an inch. He hadn't eaten, slept, or done anything for that matter. His world was wrapped up in the tiny body that was held protectively within his arms.

"_Are you going to simply sit there and die Ichigo?_" a gruff voice asked.

Glancing up for the first time in two days, Ichigo saw that the voice belonged to a translucent figure of his sword's spirit, Zangetsu. The elder spirit stood there, his trench coat flapping in the breeze.

Looking back down at Rukia, Ichigo bit out "Leave me alone."

"_Ichigo, if you wish to avenge her, you're going to have to get up._" Zangetsu commented.

"I said leave me alone." Ichigo irritably replied.

Frowning, Zangetsu turned his back to Ichigo and said "_I see. So, your love for her was that shallow._"

Fiercely looking up at the older man, Ichigo screamed "DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT! I LOVED HER WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND SOUL!"

"_Maybe so, but you are sitting there like a child, sulking. To avenge her, you must move forward. That is why I say your love for her is so shallow._"

Ichigo was about to fire back, but stopped. Biting his lip, he realized that the older man was right. "_Damn it, why must he be right!? I've been sitting here, mourning her loss for the last two days, doing nothing while Kenshin is out there causing more trouble! I'm such a fool!_"

Releasing his hold on Rukia, he glanced down at her face once more. Gently, he reached down and kissed her cheek. Setting her onto the ground, he stood and began glancing around. Finding an area where the dirt was soft, he began digging with his claws.

Watching this, Zangetsu smirked with amusement. "_So, you're ready to move forward?_" he asked in a dry tone.

"I will avenge her!" Ichigo declared fiercely. "First though, I must bury her, then I will find that bastard and make him pay for her suffering!"

Finishing digging the grave, Ichigo stood with bloodied hands. His claws had been helpful in digging, but due that he had short claws, they were not ideal and had ripped out during the process. Still, it didn't stop him. With the grave dug, he walked over to Rukia's body and scooped it up. Carefully, he laid her to rest into the hole and stared down at her.

"I will do everything in my power to avenge you Rukia." he whispered before pushing the dirt into the hole, covering her body up completely.

With Rukia buried, he grabbed his sword that had been laying on the ground and went to a nearby stream. Cleaning up, he came out and saw that Zangetsu stood waiting for him still.

"_Ichigo, I will tell you something now that I have not told you yet._" Zangetsu calmly said while staring at the orange haired young man. "_Learning my name does not mean you have mastered me yet. No Ichigo, in your clan, a handful has learned my name, but none have learned it like you did in only five days. That in itself is a feat I must even admit surprises me._"

Pausing for a moment, the elder man finally continued on, saying "_Still, that does not mean you have mastered me. Learning my name and releasing my second form, called the Shikai form, does not mean too much. It means you are ready to learn more from me, and that you have a chance to unlock more of my power._"

"What are you saying then? That to master you, I must do something else!?" Ichigo growled out.

"_You catch on rather quickly Ichigo._" Zangetsu commented. "_To unlock my true potential, you must master me and defeat me in combat. Once you do that, you will unlock my final form, which is called my Bankai form. Upon unlocking it, you will have fully mastered me, and thus have incredible power. That power, and that power alone, will give you the strength to defeat Kenshin._"

Eyes widening, Ichigo clenched his right fist tightly. "To master you and unlock this Bankai form, that is what I need to defeat Kenshin?" he questioned.

Nodding, the spirit replied "_Yes, that power will defeat Kenshin. But to unlock my final form, it will take time. None in your clan has ever accomplished this task. Many have tried, but all have failed. Even your grandfather, as strong as he was, failed to unlock my Bankai form. If you succeed where he failed, you will by far become the strongest in your clan, and thus accomplish the impossible._"

Digesting Zangetsu's words, Ichigo looked to the older man and asked "When do we begin?"


	36. Chapter 36: Past Foes, Pt 1

**Hello again everyone! Well, not too much going on this week. Heh, I've been helping my dad in the hayfields, which has been fun. I took off half of Tuesday to help him out, which is lucky because we finished a half an hour before it rained. We finally got half done thankfully, although I wish we were further along. Normally by the 4****th**** of July, we're done with our hay, but not so this year. It's done nothing but rain almost all of June, thus not giving us a break to get our hay up, but oh well, I suppose… At any rate, not much else is going on in life. Me and my mate are still waiting on our new bedroom suit to come in. Eh, other than that, life is not bad.**

**Writing wise, things are still moving along nicely. I finished a lot on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. As for this story, I'm constantly picking away at it, although I'm starting to think I should shift my focus back on to it. There are so many things on this story that have yet to be done, so I need to get back to it.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Kattana: Wow, you've been logging in most recently, which is cool. I'm not complaining, just mentioning it, lol. But yes, I could never imagine having to kill my lover. I know I couldn't do it, even if she begged for it. Ichigo didn't wish to do it either, but Rukia wished to die before Kenshin tried to take her, so I can't blame her too badly. So true, I'd have died with the person I loved if I had to kill them, and I'm sure that's why Ichigo is the way that he is, although he's trying to honor Rukia's last wish for him to live on. Yeah, Sango and Miroku marked one another and thus if one dies, the other dies, which is pretty much how each has expressed they feel. Really, either group of mates could have held off the marking of one another till after the mages were killed, but both loved their respected mates and wished to take them as lifetime mates, so it happened, lol. Thanks about the chapter, and for the great review that you gave me!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! I suppose Kenshin should die a long and hard death, but we'll see. It all depends on if they can make it to the mage and can kill him. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you both for those wonderful reviews. I really appreciated them. Both of you are such wonderful reviewers. I always get something helpful from each of you almost always, which I truly appreciate, so I'd just like to once more thank you each. I really do appreciate it.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 36**

"Zangetsu and I from then on trained. For five years straight, I trained with Zangetsu while tracking the mages." Ichigo commented. "I had very little luck in finding them, depending on leads from different demons and humans, although few leads were helpful."

Smirking, he added "Then one day, luck was on my side when I ran into Iya about twenty years ago."

--

Standing on the outskirts of a village that had just been decimated, Ichigo caught the scent of a half dog demon walking towards him through the village. Seeing the half dog demon appearing closer, he hid himself and his scent. Getting a better look at the half demon as he came closer, Ichigo saw that he had black hair that reached his butt, tied back in a ponytail, wearing a black kimono top and pants with a red hexagon pattern on the top. On his side was a sword in a black sheath. A top the half demon's head was a pair of black dog ears that were swiveling constantly.

Arriving out the outskirts where Ichigo was, the half demon stopped in mid-step and turned towards Ichigo, who glared at him.

"Who the hell are you, and what did you do to that village?" Ichigo asked gruffly.

Taking offense to this, the young man politely replied "I'm sorry, but it's common courtesy to introduce one's self first before asking who a person is."

Growling out at the fact the half demon had turned the question back on him, Ichigo yelled out "Are you working for The Thirteen!?"

Chuckling at first, the young half demon finally burst into laughter. Calming down, the half demon calmly said "No, I do not work for them, but the question is, do you?"

"What was that!?" Ichigo snarled with angry rising.

Drawing Zangetsu from it's sheath, Ichigo turned the sword towards the half demon, saying "Fess up now! Are you working with the mages!?"

Not backing down, the half demon drew his sword, calmly replying "I take exception to your accusations that I work for the mages. I have never, and will never."

"I don't believe you!" Ichigo declared.

Sighing, the half demon calmly said "Then I will make you believe me."

Raising his sword, the sword suddenly flared to life with demonic energy. The blade instantly transformed, turning the sword into a halberd with a black fur guard.

Not intimidated, Ichigo rushed forward. The two swords clashed together, sending sparks flying from the force. Again and again, the two swords clashed with one another, the sound of metal hitting metal filling the air.

For nearly twenty minutes, the pair fought till finally Ichigo backed away a bit. Seeing this, the half demon asked "Finished already?"

"Hardly!" Ichigo roared back. Gripping the hilt of Zangetsu tightly, he called forth it's Shikai transformation. The sword instantly glowed with a light blue demonic aura, transforming into it's cleaver like shape.

Glaring at the half demon, Ichigo charged forward, the two blades once more sending out a series of sparks. Again and again, the pair engaged in exchanges of blows, with neither side harming the other.

After an hour, both finally leapt backwards, leaving some room between the two. Staring one another down, the half demon lightly chuckled and reversed his sword's transformation and sheathed it.

"I see, you're that determined to find out what I know." the half demon commented. A small smile graced his face while he calmly said "I suppose I should introduce myself at long last. My name is Iya Taisho."

Thinking for a few moments, Ichigo finally replied "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Why don't we end this fight and talk?" Iya asked kindly.

Feeling he could trust Iya, Ichigo decided to listen and reversed the transformation of his sword, allowing him to sheath it once more. Taking a seat beside of Iya, who was sitting on some rocks, the pair began talking and sharing information.

--

"It wasn't long after that that me and Iya began traveling together." Ichigo calmly explained. "We felt the same way about the mages, so we began tracking them together."

Pausing for a moment, he added "Ever since then, me and Iya have been a team. Nothing has separated us."

"He's become your best friend, hasn't he?" Orihime asked softly.

Smiling, Ichigo quietly replied "I suppose so. I never thought I'd make new friends after losing Rukia, but Iya has become my closest friend. Before I lost Renji, we were best friends, but now, with Iya, it's different. It's like we're closer, somehow."

"Probably because Iya has been through a lot with you." Orihime calmly said. "He's been with you for the last twenty years, so it's only natural that the two of you would become rather close."

Nodding in reply, Ichigo quieted. Silence enveloped the two, but neither was uncomfortable by it.

"Orihime." Ichigo spoke up, breaking the quiet. Seeing he had her attention, he whispered "Thank you for listening."

Warmly smiling, she replied "Ichigo, I'm always here if you need someone to talk to. I feel closer to you than the others I guess due that you're part bobcat."

"_And because I care about you._" she whispered in her mind.

Getting up from his spot, he offered his hand to her, making her eyes widen a fraction in surprise. Accepting it after a moment, Ichigo helped Orihime stand.

Brown orbs met grey ones, with each seemingly looking into the depths of one another's souls. Quickly breaking contact, Ichigo let go of her hand and ran his fingers through his hair for a moment.

"I guess we should be getting back, eh?" he asked.

Finding her voice once more, Orihime nodded and leapt from the tree. She soon hit the ground, but gracefully landed on the balls of her feet. Ichigo landed next to her just as gracefully, but with more of a thud.

"Let's go." he commented while taking the lead back towards camp.

Smiling softly, Orihime nodded and caught up with him soon enough so that she was by his side. He caught this action and inwardly smiled.

"_Maybe, just maybe I will be able to rebuild my life Rukia. I know you would approve, but don't worry. Before I even begin to try and find love once more, I'll rid this world of Kenshin._"

--

Arriving back at camp, the two bobcat demons found the others were gathered around the fire, with Inuyasha holding Kagome in his arms, who was half asleep, while leaning against a tree, and Iya sitting with Lilly not too far away. Two rabbits hung on the outskirts of the fire, looking already cooked and ready to eat.

Taking a seat on the ground on the opposite side of the fire, both Ichigo and Orihime plopped down onto the ground. An uncomfortable silence was in the air, with none of the group speaking up.

Finally breaking the silence, Iya calmly said "Ichigo, Orihime, those two rabbits are for you two."

"Thanks." Ichigo mumbled while grabbing his own and Orihime's. He handed her the cooked rabbit, which she smiled at him and thanked him.

Finishing up with their dinner, the pair threw the remains into the fire. Silence was once again filling the group, till Iya spoke up once more.

"We shouldn't be too many more days away."

Perking up a bit, Inuyasha asked "Have you fought these two mages before?"

Tapping his chin for a moment, Iya replied "I've had a few skirmishes with the pair, but nothing to amount to anything. Heh, really, the only battles I've had with them that really lasted was probably when they attacked your group."

Quieting for a moment, Iya added "If they're anything like the other mages, they'll be tough. All of the mages I've fought have been tough fighters."

"You fought and killed the first three alone, didn't you?" Lilly asked, getting most of the group, except Ichigo, to look at Iya.

Softly chuckling, Iya nodded, replying "Yes, I fought the first three alone. Actually, I fought the first one alone, then the second time I fought the mages, there were two."

"What were they like?" Kagome asked, surprising Inuyasha that she hadn't fully fallen asleep in his embrace.

"Definitely different, I'll give them that much." Iya commented. "Ichigo helped me beat three more, but even they were different."

Pausing for a moment, he added "The first fight though, it took so long to get engaged into it."

"What do you mean?" Orihime questioned with a frown.

Sighing slightly while looking at the fire, Iya slowly said "When I began chasing the mages two-hundred-fifty years ago, I never engaged any of them in battle till after a hundred years of chasing them."

The group all, but Ichigo, somewhat gasped in shock, with Inuyasha quickly saying "You mean you never fought them till hundred-fifty years ago!?"

"That's correct." Iya informed. "I had chased them all that time, but not once did they turn and fight. Each time I would get within sight of them, I was prepared to fight, but the lead mage, Byakuya, would tell the group I wasn't worth their time, for I was only a half demon, thus unworthy of their attention."

Frowning slightly, he soon added "But after a hundred years of chasing, one finally had stopped running, and we had it out."

--

Sniffing the air, Iya frowned at the two scents he caught while running along. "_Why do I smell one of the mages and their slave seemingly waiting on me?_" he pondered.

Pushing the question to the back of his mind, he ran out into a small clearing where a large man stood with a smaller woman beside of him, who had her head in a bowing stance.

Leaving a distance of twenty feet between himself and the pair, Iya eyed the two before him. The first was a large, tall man that had black spiky hair with bells attached to the ends of the spikes, a large scar that ran downwards past his eye, tanned skin, and rather muscular. He wore an eye patch over his right eye, while his other eye was uncovered, which was black as coal, a black choker collar, and a set of black robes. Sticking out of his robes was a sword's hilt that was covered in white cloth.

Beside of the tall man was a petit woman, whose skin was bronzed, with long purple hair pulled back in a ponytail, golden eyes, and had a kind face. She wore a formal orange kimono with flower patterns embroidered into it.

"About time you showed up." the man spoke up with a gruff tone. "I was beginning to think you'd never make it."

Swiveling his ears, Iya listened closely to make sure no one else was in the area. Taking a sniff of the air, he detected no other demons nearby. Using his senses to look for other demonic presences, Iya was finally convinced that only the half demon and the demon mage were the only ones present besides him.

"Satisfied?" the man questioned. "I didn't have any of the others stay with me. They're long gone by now, more than likely miles away. You only have to deal with me, and me alone, which is just how I prefer it."

Eyeing the woman behind him, Iya calmly said "Keep her out of this fight."

"Heh, you think I'd bother to let her in on my own fight? You are pathetic if you think I can't handle a half breed alone." the man irritably replied. Glancing over his shoulder at the woman, he said "Yoruichi, stay out of this fight."

Bowing lightly, Yoruichi humbly replied "Yes Master Kenpachi."

Stepping forward towards Iya, the man undid the cords to his robes and shrugged them off, revealing a white tattered vest first that reached his knees in length and had diamond like shapes on it's bottom hems, and a black kimono top with a pair of black pants. His feet were covered in white socks while he wore simple sandals.

"I've been looking forward to this for a long time." the man eagerly said with a smirk.

Looking the man in the eye, Iya coolly replied "So have I. Every time I've caught up with you mages, you run away."

"Run away!?" the man bellowed in disgust. "You are sure of yourself! The only reason we leave is due to the orders of our leader. He says you are a weak half breed, thus we shouldn't have to waste our time on such a small annoyance. I wanted to get rid of you one hundred years ago, but he refused to let me, saying it wasn't worth our time. My persistence over the last hundred years has paid off though, for I finally was allowed to strike out and fight you at long last. Once I kill you, we'll have no more interruptions in our affairs."

Softly chuckling, Iya flatly replied "If you kill me, that is."

"Confident for such a runt, aren't you?" the man bantered.

In his calm voice, Iya curtly responded with "I have no reason not to be. My father believed I could handle this task, therefore I'm not worried."

"Your father was a fool!" the man sharply remarked. "He would have been a wonderful and refreshing challenge, but instead he sent his runt to fight us. Well I got news for you pup, daddy isn't here to hold your hand through this fight."

"Nor do I need him to be." Iya calmly replied. "I have been capable of fighting on my own for many years. And now that I have one of you finally to fight, I'll start picking you mages off, one by one."

"Big talk for such a pup." the man remarked with a smirk. "Maybe you'll get lucky, but doubtful. After all, you're fighting Kenpachi Zaraki!"

Softly chuckling, Iya simply said "I know of you. You're said to be the most brutal of the mages."

"Ah, so my reputation precedes me. I'm glad to hear it hasn't fallen into ruin after all these years." Kenpachi smugly remarked.

"I also heard that of the mages, you have the least amount of knowledge of spells and can only cast a few at that." Iya smartly commented.

Shrugging, Kenpachi quipped back with "It maybe true that I don't know many spells, but I don't need many to get by. After all, what I already knew was more than enough to enter The Thirteen."

"That might be, but after today, that group will need a new name since I'm about to cut their number down to twelve." Iya remarked.

Sneering, Kenpachi reached up and pulled his black kimono open, revealing his well toned chest. "Why don't you come show me what you're made of then, little pup. I'll give you the first attack for free."

Frowning, Iya calmly asked "You intend to let me attack you first?"

"That's right, I'm giving you a free shot. Come on, prove how strong you are by burying that sword of yours into me." Kenpachi declared. "Maybe you'll get lucky and cut off an arm or leg, or maybe even kill me on your first attack. Who knows, but I want to see what you can do."

Gripping Ketsaiga's hilt, Iya drew his sword, sparking the sword's transformation into it's halberd state. Bringing the sword before him, Iya looked Kenpachi over.

"Come on, don't tell me you can't attack me. I want to see what you've got!" Kenpachi declared boastfully.

Rushing forward with his sword raised, Iya swung his sword downwards at Kenpachi's chest. The sound of blood splashing the ground filled the air, but none of it came from the mage.

Looking at Kenpachi with a wide eyed expression, Iya leapt backwards to a safe distance of ten feet and glanced at his hands. Looking at them, he saw blood dripping from them onto the ground in small spatters.

Slamming the tip of the blade into the ground, Iya left Ketsaiga beside himself while examining his hands. Both were bleeding lightly, each with imprints of where his sword's hilt had cut into his hands.

Glancing up to look at the smug Kenpachi, Iya slowly processed the memory of what had just happened. "_When I swung my sword at him, just as I made contact, I saw a faint shimmer. I think he raised a barrier just as I hit him, thus that's why Ketsaiga didn't cut into his body and my hands bled due that I put so much force into my swing. Still, for him to raise a barrier that close to his body, that was surprising. It's like it curves with his body, and is barely visible. Even now, I can't sense it._"

"I see now." Iya slowly started. "You raised a barrier just as I attacked you, thus keeping me from harming you and making me harm myself due to the amount of force I put into my swing."

Smirking triumphantly, Kenpachi smugly replied "I'll give you this, you are rather observant. You figured out what I did rather quickly, I'm impressed."

"Still, I don't understand how you managed to raise a barrier that covers your body at such a close range. Barriers usually need a much wider perimeter from what I've always understood." Iya commented.

Chuckling darkly, Kenpachi calmly responded with "Well, normally I'd say you're right, but my barrier is one of a kind. You see, my barrier uses my own demonic aura as a it's power source. It stays closer to my body and is barely visible. It's strength stems from my own demonic aura. Anyone with an aura weaker than my own will only bounce off of the barrier. Only someone with an aura stronger than my own can cut through it."

Brow furrowing, Iya stared at the mage before him. "_My own aura isn't strong enough alone, that is for sure. True, I have great strength, but I can sense his aura. Mine is within range, but even if I use my full power, I won't be able to penetrate his barrier._"

In his mind, Iya smirked with a new plan in mind. Taking hold of Ketsaiga once more, he pulled it back in front of his body and closed his eyes. Remaining quiet for a few moments, he finally snapped his eyes open and charged forward towards Kenpachi.

Kenpachi only smugly stood his ground and stuck his chest out. Iya didn't hesitate at all and swung his sword downwards at the large man's shoulder. With no fear, Kenpachi stood his ground, only to gasp in shock when Iya's blade slashed into his shoulder, drawing a small spray of blood.

Not finished with his assault, Iya drew Ketsaiga back once more and slashed the large man across the chest, earning yet another gasp of shock from his opponent as blood quickly spurted out.

Quickly, Kenpachi backed away and examined the two wounds. Glaring at Iya, he bellowed "How did you cut me!? Your demonic aura is not strong enough to overpower my own, so how did you cut me!?"

"It's rather simple." Iya smoothly began. "My own demonic aura isn't strong enough, that much was for certain, so I used that to my advantage. You see, I focused my power and channeled it into Ketsaiga. Ketsaiga itself has a powerful demonic aura also, so I combined the two auras and pushed it to the tip of the blade. Together, my sword's aura and my aura were powerful enough to cut through you barrier, so you're wasting your time using it."

Sneering, Kenpachi shot back "I see, so you figured out how to cut through my barrier. Well then, there is no point for me to keep it up. I think you've earned that much of my respect."

Making a few simple hand signs before his body, Kenpachi calmly declared "Release!"

Instantly, a blue glow surrounded his body. Suddenly, the glow evaporated into the air in what looked like steam. With the glow gone, Kenpachi grabbed hold of his white bandaged cloth covered hilt. Slowly, he drew his sword, revealing it to be rather long, but was obviously very worn out, for small chunks of metal were missing from the blade itself. The blade looked more like a saw than a sword due to the numerous teeth cut into the blade.

"You've got me interested in fighting you now Iya." Kenpachi remarked with a smirk. "I want to see if you're truly as good as you claim you are. Watch out, for here I come."

Rushing forward at a quick pace, Kenpachi swung his sword in a side slash at Iya, who managed to parry his attack easily with Ketsaiga, but was pushed backwards from the force of the blow. Clutching Ketsaiga tightly, Iya finally managed to hold his ground and slashed back, only to be parried by Kenpachi one handed.

--

For nearly an hour, Iya and Kenpachi continued fighting. Their swords clashed together again and again, till at long last, Iya leapt twenty feet away, panting lightly with Ketsaiga before him.

Staring at Kenpachi, Iya saw that the man was standing perfectly still and not panting at all, but simply smirking while blood poured from numerous wounds. His white vest was already soaked in red, along with different parts of his black pants and top.

Still panting, Iya's brow furrowed. "_What the hell is he!? I've cut him from head to toe, and yet he seems to be just as fresh as the beginning of this fight. Meanwhile, I'm getting tired. I have a few wounds of my own, but nothing to worry about. He's barely managed to hurt me, while I've carved him up. Still, he just seems to keep going, as if nothing is harming him, like he feels no pain at all!_"

Chuckling darkly, Kenpachi called out "Are you already worn out there pup?"

"No!" Iya fiercely responded.

Smiling evilly, Kenpachi excitedly replied "That's the way! Never say die! I must say, I'm surprised you've lasted this long. I figured you'd falter by now, but to see you still having the will and energy to fight, it's rather refreshing."

Pausing for a moment, he added "You know what, I'm going to share a little secret with you since you've lasted this long. First though, answer me this question: do you know what kind of demon I am?"

Thinking for a moment, Iya finally calmed his breathing and replied "I have no idea. All the information I had on you was just your name and how brutal you were. No other information was available."

"That figures, seeing how I never left many witnesses." Kenpachi dryly remarked with a small smirk. "Well then, I guess this should be informative to you."

"The type of demon I am is a very old race, one which barely lives anymore. I am what is known as a battle demon." Kenpachi began. "The race I belong to is nearly dead. There are only a few of us left, if that. I am one of those few, and Yoruichi is a half battle demon. Of course, she's only half due that I made her that way, but she's been with me for quite a while. There are only a handful of us left, most likely only four or five of us pure battle demons, and Yoruichi is the only half battle demon that I know of."

Processing the information Kenpachi had told him, Iya finally spoke up and said "I've never heard of battle demons before."

"I figure not, young pup." Kenpachi smugly retorted. "Our breed is nearly dead. What makes our race very special is our thirst for battle, and the unique abilities that our bodies contain. I'm sure you're curious to why I haven't slowed any, or seemingly felt any pain from the numerous slashes that you gave me. Well, the reason is a simple one. Battle demons can barely feel pain, and our bodies are rather resilient. Not to mention, we have extremely high endurance, much more so than other demons."

Smirking, Kenpachi added "That's why you won't win against me. Your endurance is obviously not on par with my own, thus you will falter long before I become tired. Just surrender to death."

"Never!" Iya sharply remarked. "I swore to my father that I'd bring you mages down, and I will not go against my word! That is my way, and I shall never break it!"

"I find it admirable that you honor your word." Kenpachi commented while reaching up towards his eye patch. Taking hold of it, he ripped it off, declaring "For it, I shall slay you quickly!"

Instantly, Iya felt Kenpachi's demonic aura increase, making him gasp in shock. "_What is this!? His demonic aura was powerful before, but now it just shot through the roof! How the hell is he doing that!?_"

"I am now fighting at one hundred percent power." Kenpachi declared, snapping Iya out of his thoughts. "If you can beat me at my full power, then you will most definitely have proven to me that you are truly capable of fighting the others, but I doubt you'll survive the first few minutes of my assault at this level."

Clutching Ketsaiga tightly in his hand, Iya dryly remarked "We'll see."

Smirking, Kenpachi raced forward, sword in his right hand. He quickly slammed his sword into Ketsaiga, sending Iya flying backwards while skidding his feet.

Finally coming to rest, Iya stared at the hulking man who was smirking at his results. "_He has tremendous strength. This is getting dangers. I'll have to finish him off with a single attack, but hitting him will be the problem I think. I just have to time it right._"

Hearing Kenpachi charging again, Iya snapped out of his thoughts as their swords clanged together again. Sparks flew from the force of the strike that Kenpachi hit Ketsaiga. Iya once more sent skidding backwards on the ground, but quickly recovered and rushed forward, swinging Ketsaiga at Kenpachi.

Kenpachi simply parried the attack with one hand, surprising Iya. Again, Kenpachi flung Iya backwards with his sword easily, making Iya come to a skidding stop.

Sweat formed on Iya's brow quickly, plus he began to pant while staring at the massive battle demon. "_He's so much stronger than before. Even his speed has increased. I don't know if I can compete with that..._"

Quickly shaking his head, he growled deeply in reply in his mind "_No! I will win this fight and kill off my first mage! Father entrusted me with this task, and I will defeat all thirteen of them!_"

Breaking from his thoughts, he quickly dodged to the side just as Kenpachi slammed his sword into the spot where Iya had been a moment before. Spinning around, Iya swung Ketsaiga with all his strength at Kenpachi, only to have the giant battle demon parry once more.

"Haven't I gotten it through your thick skull yet that you can't compete with my true power? What a nuisance…" Kenpachi grumbled while pushing Iya away with his sword alone.

Skidding to a stop, Iya glared at the battle demon. "I'll never give up Kenpachi!" Iya firmly declared. "You'll have to kill me before I quit this battle!"

"Suit yourself. I offered you a reasonable death, but if you want to be torn to shreds, then it doesn't matter to me." Kenpachi grunted out.

Charging forward, Kenpachi brought his sword down at Iya in a slashing motion, but Iya quickly side stepped the attack. Quickly swinging at Kenpachi, Iya landed a gash into the hulking battle demon's arm.

Turning a glare at Iya, Kenpachi spun towards Iya, trying to slash him, only to hit thin air. Iya had simply vanished, making the battle demon glance around. Finally spotting Iya a few feet away, Kenpachi struck out at him, only to again miss.

Reappearing behind Kenpachi, Iya calmly asked "What's the matter? Am I moving too fast for you?"

Gnashing his teeth, Kenpachi swung around with his sword out in a side slash at nearly blinding speed, only to have Iya's sword parry his own. Iya let out a loud grunt while holding the attacking sword back, using all his strength to not be pushed backwards.

Gasping slightly at Iya able to hold his ground, Kenpachi smirked and said "Now you're starting to get me interested in this fight once more. Here I thought you'd just roll over and die, but instead, you're getting me more excited due that you can fight back!"

Separating their blades, Iya swung his sword hard at Kenpachi in a side slash, only to clash with the battle demon's sword. Panting lightly, Iya leapt backwards about ten feet, giving him some distance.

"Maybe I spoke up too soon." Kenpachi flatly stated. "You look exhausted. Perhaps I was wrong about you, thinking you'd be a challenge."

"I'm not finished with you yet." Iya panted out. Slowing his breathing, Iya gripped Ketsaiga tightly and rushed forward at blinding speed.

Sneering at the oncoming attack Iya was presenting, Kenpachi cried out "That's it, give me all you have!"

Preparing to parry, Kenpachi raised his sword, only to widen his eyes in shock when Iya vanished in a flash before him. Reappearing beside of him, Iya called out "Over here."

Swinging hard at Iya, Kenpachi missed, leaving himself wide open to Iya. Sliding backwards a few feet, he slammed his sword into the ground, screaming out "WIND SLASH!"

A burst of white demonic energy instantly went racing forward, slamming into Kenpachi's body. He immediately screamed out in pain while the blade of energy split him right through the middle. Two bloody halves of his body fell to the ground simultaneously, leaving a panting Iya standing before the remains of the once powerful mage.

Panting heavily, Iya glanced over at the woman that had been with Kenpachi. Tears filled her eyes, as she whispered "Master Kenpachi…"

Sighing, Iya calmed his breathing and sheathed Ketsaiga. Walking over to the woman, he sadly smiled and softly said "You're free from him now, Yoruichi."

"Master Kenpachi…" Yoruichi whispered once more. Without warning, her body suddenly pulsated, alerting Iya that something was amiss.

Rushing to Yoruichi's side, Iya reached out to take hold of her, but was punched in the face, sending him flying away from her. Rubbing his cheek, he glanced up again to see her body was once more pulsating wildly while a red aura leaked out from her body.

Gasping in shock, Iya watched while Yoruichi's purple hair burst out of it's binding and proceeded to flow down her back. Her clawed lengthened while her fangs began to protrude out of her mouth. Glaring right at him was a pair of red raging eyes that were filled with murder. Twin black stripes ran down her cheeks.

"You transformed?" Iya questioned.

Not replying, Yoruichi instead raced forward at nearly blinding speed and slashed at Iya with her newly sharpened claws. At the last moment, Iya had dodged, but his kimono was still slashed by her claws.

Glancing at the claw marks on his kimono, Iya calmly put his hands up and said "Yoruichi, I have no desire to fight you. Please, calm down so we can talk this over. I killed Kenpachi, but you shouldn't have to fight because of that."

Again, Yoruichi didn't respond and instead charged Iya. She quickly struck out with her claws, with Iya again narrowly avoiding her. Putting a small distance between himself and Yoruichi, Iya studied the young woman's face.

"_What happened? It's like whenever Kenpachi died, she decided to transform? Are the mages and their slaves connected to some kind of extent that if the mage loses a fight, their slave transforms into their demon state?_"

Before he could complete his thought process, Yoruichi leapt forward and slashed out at Iya again. This time she scored a hit, slashing her claws over his right shoulder, making him hiss out in pain while blood sprayed into the air.

Leaping far away enough to examine the wound, Iya clenched his jaw at the feeling of the pain shooting up and down his arm. Glancing up again, he saw Yoruichi's blurring form racing towards him once more with her claws extended.

"_She has no control at all. If I keep this up, I'll die. I'm far too weak from my fight with Kenpachi to save her. I'll just have to kill her, unfortunately._"

Making his decision, Iya scrambled to move out of the way and did at the last second. In a new position, he quickly drew Ketsaiga and brought it before his body. Watching Yoruichi come racing towards him, he raised the sword.

"_I'm so sorry Yoruichi. I didn't want to kill you, but you're leaving me no choice._"

With not much distance between himself and the transformed half demon, Iya slammed his sword into the ground, screaming out "Wind Slash!"

Yoruichi had no time to react just as the blinding white beam of light slammed into her body, destroying her completely while she let out a primeval roar of pain. The light soon cleared, revealing a few remains of the once living half demon.

Slamming Ketsaiga's tip hard into the ground, Iya fell to one knee while panting heavily. Taking a glance at the remains of Kenpachi and Yoruichi, he forced himself to look away while hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

"_Why, why did I have to kill her!? I should have tried harder to save her! My whole mission isn't to just kill the mages, but to save their slaves! So why couldn't I save her in the end..._"


	37. Chapter 37: Past Foes, Pt 2

**Hello again everyone. So, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Friday and Saturday, I spent both afternoons putting up hay with my dad. We're nearly done, thankfully. We finish up today, so happy days! Other than that, life is pretty good I suppose, although I'm a bit ticked off at a few friends. We were to meet in August for one's wedding, but she's yet to get in touch with me. I've called twice thus far, and am getting near my irritation limit, in which I'll just say screw it and not go. Such lovely friends, lol. Anyways, other than that, life is decent.**

**Writing wise, things are still going well I suppose. I've slowed a bit on working on this story, but I am so close to the exciting parts that I may get back on it. Eh, working on two stories is not as much fun as I thought it would be, lol. One thing is for certain, I may not do it again. Doing a one-shot is one thing while working on a story, but completing a whole other story is hard, lol.**

**Ok, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Glad you liked it. Thanks about writing sword fights. I tried really hard to get them to sound halfway decent. I still think they could use some work, but that's just a writer's perspective I guess, hehe. But yes, they're getting back to the story, with Iya revealing his past battles. Thanks for the review.**

**kattana: Thanks, and thanks for the review!**

**And that's that. Thank you both for your reviews. I truly appreciated both of your reviews, just so you know. Thank you both once more.**

**At any rate, that's it for today. I hope you all enjoy! Later!**

**Chapter 37**

"After my fight with Kenpachi and Yoruichi, I made a trip to visit Ryo at his home." Iya quietly said. "What I had done to Yoruichi weighed heavily on my heart, and I couldn't live with what I had done. I had killed the one I was to free and save."

Pausing for a moment, he soon added "I arrived at Ryo's and he explained things to me then. He told me that once a mage takes a human and casts their transformation spell on them, which has the binding spell in it, that once the binding spell is completed, there is no chance for that human turned half demon to be freed from the mages. If the mage is killed after the thirty day grace period, then the half demon will suffer a terrible fate. The half demon will transform into their full demon state, becoming a mindless demon with only one thought: to kill. They will remain that way the rest of their lives, until they are killed."

A deathly silence filled the group, mostly Lilly and Kagome more than the others. "But that was a lesson learned." Iya soon said. "Once I learned that lesson, I calculated my attacks more than I had previously. I waited till the mages were on the hunt for new slaves before I attacked."

"Though I had killed Yoruichi, I swore to not let another slave suffer that fate. So, I moved on and stalked the mages like before. With my victory over Kenpachi, the mages took me more seriously."

Smiling slightly, Iya added "After running after the mages for another seventy-five years, I finally caught up with two of them. They were a pair of brothers, and they had decided to face off with me."

--

Racing through the forest at a quick pace, Iya sniffed the air and picked up the scent of the two mages he had been after for the last few days. He had managed to interrupt their attempt in taking slaves, thus angering the pair of brothers, but hadn't cared. Rather than face him, the pair had run off and had been running since, but at long last, Iya was catching up with them.

Arriving on a bank next to a river with a clearing, Iya quickly spotted the two brothers that stood waiting. The first had blonde hair that was held back in a ponytail, golden eyes, and creamy skin. His clothing was that of the other mages; a set of black robes.

Beside of the blonde mage stood another young man, this one with sandy blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail at the same length of the other mage, brown eyes, and also cream colored skin. Like the mage beside of him, his clothing consisted of a set of black mage robes.

Looking at the two mages, Iya sniffed the air, finding no signs of the other mages in the area. Returning his full attention to the pair, he softly asked "So, you two have decided to fight me?"

"Don't think this will be like the battle you had with Kenpachi Zaraki." the one with golden eyes fiercely declared. "Me and Al here are much smarter than that lug ever was."

Glancing between the two, Iya closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. "Edward and Alphonse Elric, that are your names, correct?" Iya calmly asked.

Both mages nodded and opened their robes, revealing clothing underneath. The golden eyed mage wore a black pair of pants and a jacket, with a pair of black boots on his feet and white gloves on his hands. The brown eyed mage wore the same outfit to the other.

"So, you two dress alike too?" Iya mused aloud.

Smirking, the golden eyed one replied "Al just happens to like to dress like me. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him."

Sniffing the air once more, Iya glanced between the two and said "The two of you are lion demons. Am I correct?"

"Good nose." Al warmly replied. "It's a shame you didn't leave us alone. You seem nice enough, so I think we should warn you, for the crime you committed against us, you'll die."

"What crime is that?" Iya casually asked.

Lightly chuckling, Ed smartly responded with "You should know, idiot. That fight with Kenpachi earned you a death sentence from us. We've just been biding our time till we could kill you."

"Lucky me." Iya commented with a small smirk while placing his hand on Ketsaiga's hilt.

Making a quick series of hand signs, Al clapped his hands together and slammed his palms into the ground. "Summoning spell: Iron Giant!" Al cried out.

Materializing before the lion demon immediately was a large suit of armor that was kneeling on the ground. The suit's metal shined brightly, with a single white strip of fabric hanging off it's helmet. On the armor's shoulders were a set of spiked shoulder pads. It wore a loincloth to conceal it's lower region and had black in it's elbow joints and fingers. Slowly, the suit of armor stood up with it's armor clanking while it did so.

Standing as well, Al walked forward, touching the back of the armor. The armor shimmered slightly and he walked into the shimmering glow, vanishing completely.

Examining the suit of armor, Iya sniffed the air and found that Al's scent had merged with the metal, giving off a strange new scent. "_What in the world!? How can he vanish?_"

Hearing the sound of clapping hands, Iya snapped out of his thoughts and saw Ed touching his right arm with his left hand. His arm glowed momentarily, but there was no visible change. Clapping his hands once more, Ed touched his left leg, which glowed like his arm, but didn't seem to change.

Smirking, Ed clasped his hands again and touched his right hand with his left one and pulled it away. His right arm shimmered with a light blue aura as a metallic blade grew from his right wrist, shredding his white glove instantly and revealing a metal covered right hand.

"What the hell?" Iya gasped out while looking in disbelief at the mage's hand.

Sneering, Ed cockily asked "Like what you see?"

"But how?" Iya questioned with confusion in his voice.

"I can manipulate my body with my alchemy, turning my arm into metal. I can then manipulate that metal into whatever I wish. However, it isn't easy. After all, performing magic on my own body is difficult, but I'm not worried about it." Ed confidently remarked.

Slightly annoyed by Ed, Iya drew Ketsaiga, sparking it's transformation. "I see. Well then, shall we?"

"Thought you'd never ask. Ready Al?"

"Ready." Al's voice replied with a bit of a metal tang to it.

Nodding, Ed streaked forward towards Iya, who readied himself and raised Ketsaiga up, parrying Ed's quick attack. The sword on Ed's arm and Ketsaiga clashed, sending sparks flying out into the air the moment they clashed. Iya didn't have time to try and counter attack, for instantly the suit of armor came running in and struck out at Iya with a heavy metal fist. With barely any time to react, Iya dodged at the last moment, but not before getting grazed by the suit's heavy fist.

Landing onto the ground, Iya rubbed his side from where the suit had just barely grazed him. Glaring at the hulking suit of armor, he prepared to move on it when Ed suddenly whirled over top of it and sent his sword slashing at Iya. With only a moment to spare, Iya parried with Ketsaiga once more, but again the suit of armor appeared next to him, with it's fist drawn back.

Reacting a bit faster this time, Iya pushed himself backwards, effectively dodging the large suit of armor's fist again. Glancing between the suit of armor and Ed, Iya smirked and casually said "Not bad for a tin can and someone with a metal arm."

"Yeah, well, not bad for a half demon." Ed smugly commented.

A bit irked by Ed's words, Iya studied the two before him. "_They're attacking simultaneously, making it hard for me to counter them. The suit of armor, it must have Al within it, although I can't get a clear scent of him. It's like him and the suit of armor is one, but that's not possible, I think. Then again, I'm not capable of magic, thus I wouldn't know what is possible or not._"

Iya's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of clanking armor. Glancing up, he saw the suit of armor charging him. The suit pulled back it's heavy right arm and swung at Iya, who ducked. Without warning, Ed appeared on the left side of the suit of armor with his sword pulled back and ready to stab Iya.

Unable to move quick enough, Iya felt Ed's sword plunge into his stomach. The urge to gasp out in pain was heavy, but Iya resisted and quickly retreated a short distance. Blood soaked through his kimono top where Ed's sword had struck him.

Feeling the wound, Iya flinched lightly from the pain. "_It's not too bad of a wound, but it's bad enough. That attack caught me off guard. I need to split them apart before I get myself killed._"

Glancing up, he saw the suit of armor charging him, fists raised. Seeing the gap closing quickly, Iya raised his sword up and slammed it into the ground towards the suit of armor, screaming out "Wind Slash!"

Blazing a path before Iya's sword was a beam of white demonic energy. The energy slammed hard into the suit of armor, which let out a gasp of shock before getting hit. A scream filled the air soon enough while the armor went flying backwards onto the ground with a huge thud.

Quickly running to the side of the armor, Ed fell to his knees and cried out "AL!! Are you alright!?"

Shakily, the armor sat up and slowly stood. With a metallic tang in his voice, Al replied "I'm fine Ed. I'm surprised this suit of armor withstood such a blow."

Glancing at the armor's chest, Ed meekly said "Al, it took a thrashing still. There is a heavy dent in it, and the cloth that was on the front is gone. Plus, there are several scratches on it."

Heavily sighing, Al grumbled out "Damn it, I just polished this thing!"

Turning towards Iya, Ed yelled "You bastard, you'll pay for messing up my brother's armor!"

Sweat dropping, Iya mumbled "They're more worried about that suit of armor than fighting me…"

Charging Iya quickly, Ed swung his sword at Iya, who parried with Ketsaiga. With his attention focused on Ed, Iya barely caught sight of the suit of armor charging him from behind. Grunting indignantly, Iya slammed his full weight into Ketsaiga, surprising Ed and pushing him backwards till Iya spun him around so that he was facing the armor, which happened just as the suit was about to punch where Iya had stood.

In shock, the suit stopped it's fist just an inch away from Ed. "Brother, sorry." Al's metal tang voice said.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ed muttered "It's alright Al. Neither of us knew he would do that."

Eyeing both brothers, Iya pondered on a strategy. "_To beat those two, I'll have to figure out a way to separate them. If I can separate them, I'll be able to take the one down and then the other won't be as much trouble. Still, to beat them, I need to figure out how to separate them. Good thing I have just the right technique to do it with._"

Drawing Ketsaiga to his right side, Iya felt the sword pulsate while ice suddenly coated it's blade and frosty air leaked off of it. Swinging the ice shard laden sword hard to his left, Iya cried out "Shard Storm!"

Flying through the air instantly was a series of ice shards. Seeing the shards coming, the suit of armor took up a defense position before Ed. Numerous shards struck the armor, with most tearing through the armor.

Watching the armor fall to the ground, Ed's eyes widened while he screamed "AL!"

Kneeling by the suit, Ed shook it gently, saying "Alphonse, speak to me!"

"I'm alright brother…" Al's voice weakly replied. "The ice tore through the armor though, so I'm going to have to get out."

Slowly sitting up, the armor clasped it's hands and touched it's chest. A beam of light blue light came out of the back of the suit as Al slowly slid out. Finally out, he let out a heavy sigh while surveying the armor.

"He ruined it…" he muttered in a low grunt.

Placing a hand on Al's shoulder, Ed warmly said "Don't worry, we'll fix it."

Returning their gaze to Iya, who only waited patiently with Ketsaiga in his hands, Al clenched his fists tightly. "You'll pay for breaking my suit of armor." he dangerously declared with fire flashing in his eyes.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ed asked with a smirk to Al.

Nodding in reply, Al commented "Yeah, I am. Let's finish this."

Clasping their hands together simultaneously both slammed their open palms to the ground, each screaming out "Summoning spell: Clay Soldiers!"

Feeling the ground quake, Iya glanced around nervously for any signs of an attack, but didn't have to wait long. With no warning, a large number of clay soldiers, all looking similar with swords and shields in their hands, shot out of the ground. Taking to the air, Iya leapt up high and glanced down while their numbers continued to rise.

"_Damn, what the hell are those things!? There are so many!_" Iya screamed in his mind while slowly starting to descend towards the ground a little ways away from the clay soldiers.

Hitting the ground, Iya warily eyed the numerous clay soldiers. Sniffing the air and swiveling his ears, he found that the scent of Ed and Al was a bit distorted. "_Where are they?_" he pondered in his mind while scanning the landscape.

Without warning, the soldiers began marching forward, moving quicker than Iya thought was possible for the large chunks of clay. Readying Ketsaiga, he lashed out at the first soldier to reach him. The two swords struck one another, with Iya holding the clay soldier's sword away from himself. Noting more clay soldiers were advancing, Iya quickly backed away from the soldier he had engaged with and glared at the horde approaching him.

"So boys, you want to play, eh?" Iya mockingly asked. "Then let's do this!"

Rushing forward, Iya quickly struck one of the soldiers in the stomach with Ketsaiga, causing the soldier to crumble. More soldiers advanced on him, forcing him to parry their attacks while dodging many others.

Amongst the fighting, Iya suddenly saw Ed in the ranks of the clay soldiers racing towards him. He had no time to attempt to parry, for the young lion demon was upon him instantly and slashed out at Iya. All Iya could do was at the last moment back away slightly, forcing Ed to only place a gash on Iya's shoulder.

"Damn it!" Iya hissed as pain flared up his arm. Glancing around, he lost sight of the lion demon.

He quickly returned his attention to the clay soldiers, which continued to attack him, making Iya parry their attacks constantly while slashing out at a few, destroying one or two slowly. Swiveling his ears, Iya caught the sound of Ed's feet pounding the ground hard and approaching him fast again. Unable to figure out the lion demon's position, Iya leapt into the air, hoping to find safety. Instead, he found the lion demon mid-air with him.

"There is no escaping us here!" Ed declared while slashing out at Iya.

With only a fraction of a second, Iya twisted his body around to where he would take the wound on his already wounded right shoulder. Taking the blade into it, Iya clenched his teeth from the pain he felt, but soon felt the blade leave his body.

Falling to the ground, Iya quickly parried the attacks of the clay soldiers. Without warning, a soldier managed to hit Ketsaiga with a heavy blow, knocking the halberd out of Iya's hand and into the air. The large sword soon slammed into the ground about thirty feet away, with Iya no way to reach it without going through the clay soldier army.

Crackling his claws, Iya icily said "Very well then, have it that way."

Brining his two fingers together, he shot his hand forward, creating a blue energy laser whip. The whip easily slashed through several of the clay soldiers before returning to Iya's fingers. Forming his whip once more, Iya flicked it directly at another slew of clay soldiers, but noted that their numbers never seemed to decline.

"_What the hell is going on!? I've been cutting their numbers down slowly, but they're still so many! Is Al possibly creating more while Ed continues to sneak attack me and while the soldiers bash me? If that's the case, I could be in trouble._"

Suddenly, he heard footsteps and turned, but it was too late. Ed buried his sword into Iya's chest, narrowly missing his heart.

With a cold smirk, the lion mage said "Checkmate half breed. You lose."

Coughing weakly while a small spatter of blood came out, Iya pushed Ed away, which effectively removed the blade that had entered his body. Blood poured out from the wound while Iya crumpled to the ground on his feet.

Spitting blood out, Iya glared hard at the ground while he felt his inner demon stirring, roaring to be let loose. "_No, can't lose control, not now._" he meekly declared.

Feeling his inner demon struggling even more while he stood, Iya reached up and wiped the blood away from his mouth with the backside of his right hand. Gazing at the lion demon standing before him, Iya clenched his jaw and glared at the demon.

"_Damn it, without Ketsaiga, I'm in danger of losing control. It's so far away. I need to get it, and fast!_"

Thoughts being broken, Iya saw Ed charging him with his sword ready to strike. At the last moment, Iya dodged and leapt high into the air. He soon came crashing down a few feet away from Ketsaiga and ran to the sword. It was still transformed in it's halberd state and awaiting him.

His inner demon once more roared to be freed, but Iya pushed it back while taking hold of the sword's hilt. Holding the sword, he felt his body pulsate, while the sword did the same thing.

"_What is this? Ketsaiga has never done that before. What is this feeling, that there is something more to me now?_" he questioned.

Feeling the sword pulsate once more and his body respond to the pulsation, he could feel his inner demon stirring again. Clutching the hilt tightly, Iya pulled the sword out of the ground and examined it.

Staring at the blade, he pondered what was happening once more when a new urge came over him. "_I need to sheath Ketsaiga? Why? Why is my mind telling me to sheath it? I need it to win!_"

Again, his body pulsated and his inner demon roared out in the back of his mind, but the roaring seemed to be telling him to sheath the sword. Feeling the pulsation again, he finally sheathed the sword. Upon doing so, a feeling began rising up in him, one he had never felt before.

"_Why does it feel like I can push my powers further than before? What is this power I can sense within me? It's like Ketsaiga is telling me to use it, to give into it._"

"Giving up, eh?" Ed's voice called out, snapping Iya back into the world.

Not answering, Iya lowered his eyes below his bangs. "_As is, I don't stand a chance at beating him and his brother, let alone their clay soldiers. Whatever it is that I'm feeling Ketsaiga and my inner demon want me to grasp for, I have to assume it's stronger than I am now. I have to take this chance, else I'll lose and fail to complete my task. I cannot fail!_"

Reaching into his mind, he felt the power that Ketsaiga was pushing him towards, along with his inner demon. Finding it at last, he felt his body pulsate once more.

"So, you're going to just stand there and die?" Ed taunted while glaring at the half demon. "How pathetic."

Slowly raising his head, Iya glared at the young lion demon, who gasped in shock. "Your eyes…" the blond haired mage slowly muttered. "What is happening to you!? Why did your eyes change colors?"

Feeling his body pulsate once more, Iya lowly growled. He could feel his body responding to the power he was grasping and bringing out ever so slowly.

Regaining his wits, Ed yelled out "Al, we have to finish him now!"

The clay soldiers instantly responded and rushed forward with Ed leading the way. With their approach nearing Iya, a sudden gust of wind blew up, making Ed stop his movement.

Clenching his hands tightly, Iya lowly growled while demonic wind blew around his body. His body was still pulsating, seemingly accepting his new power. Without warning, he felt his bones starting to creak.

Letting out a small roar, Iya leapt high into the air. A cloud of white smoke instantly engulfed his body, making him vanish completely from sight.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Ed questioned aloud.

A moment passed before the cloud slowly dissipated. Coming out of the cloud was a large black dog with sharp fangs in it's mouth, sharp clawed paws, dense black fur, and had red irises with dark green eyes. Letting out a roar, icy air came out of the dog's mouth while it still floated mid-air.

Staring at the large dog with wide eyes, Ed slowly said "It can't be… He shouldn't be able to transform into a true dog form!"

Running up beside of Ed, Al stared at the dog and asked "How can he do that brother? No half breed should be able to transform into a true demon form!"

"I don't know how he did it Al, but we're going to make sure he never does it again, ever!" Ed declared fiercely. "Ready the soldiers!"

"Right!"

Glaring down at the ground where the soldiers were amassing in front of the two lion demon brothers, Iya roared loudly and quickly began descending to the ground. Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, Iya swiped his paw across the line of soldiers, destroying all of them in his way. Many soldiers backed up a bit and prepared to attack with their swords, but Iya slammed his paw into the ground where some stood, sending out shockwaves and knocking the soldiers over.

Howling loudly, Iya threw back his head and flung it back down to take aim at the two brothers and the remainder of their soldiers as they surrounded them. A stream of icy breath went forward, striking all of the soldiers and the two brothers together in one stroke. The two brothers looked around and quickly saw the soldiers before them turned to ice. Soon enough, the two brothers were turned as well.

Raising his paw up, Iya slammed it heavily into the two forms of the lion demons, crushing them instantly and turning them into pieces of ice. Seeing his enemies crushed, Iya let out a loud howl and smashed the last of clay soldiers. With them all gone, he looked around at his surroundings and walked to the nearby stream. Lapping up some water, he walked back to where he had transformed and glanced down, seeing his clothes were on the ground.

Standing there, he let out an indignant grunt and began glowing with a white light. A moment later, the dog turned into a sphere of white energy, which touched down onto the ground a few seconds later. The sphere dissolved, revealing a nude Iya, who was clutching Ketsaiga in his right hand.

Panting lightly, he glanced around and picked up his clothing and quickly dressed. At last done, he surveyed the damage and let out a sigh.

"So, that's what you were showing me, eh Ketsaiga?" Iya asked the sword at his hip.

Softly smiling, he weakly said "You were showing me I could go beyond what I was, and transform into a true dog demon. I see now that father's training may have been to prepare me for that step, just in case it would happen."

Feeling his chest, he noted that his wounds were healed and slightly chuckled. "I guess transforming has some advantages, but still hurts like hell. I don't think I'll do that very often."

--

"My fight with Ed and Al left me with the ability to transform into my true dog form, which as you've seen already, is rather powerful." Iya commented upon finishing his tale of the two mages. "In that form, I learned I could fly, plus my strength increases. Of course, I do sacrifice a little bit of speed, but not much. Just a bit."

Softly smiling, Lilly softly said "So, that's how you learned to transform into your true dog form."

"Yeah, and it's lucky I did." Iya commented with a sly smile. "Fighting those two brothers was hard, and I nearly lost control of demonic nature. Luckily though, Ketsaiga showed me another path, and I haven't looked back since."

Speaking up, Inuyasha calmly said "You took out three mages in one-hundred-seventy-five years time. What about the other three?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya replied "I'm getting to them. Anyways, fifty-five years later, I met Ichigo. By then, I was two-hundred-eighty years old, and had been trailing the mages for two-hundred-thirty years. We teamed up together and trailed the mages for another fifteen years, till finally, luck was on our side. Three of them decided to face us. These three were stronger than the previous three I had faced alone, and would truly test me and Ichigo."

--

Running through a forest, Iya, flanked with Ichigo beside of himself, ran quickly onward while glancing ahead to see nothing but forest before them.

"Damn it, where the hell could they have gotten to?!" Ichigo irritably questioned.

Sighing, Iya calmly replied "Calm yourself, Ichigo. We'll find them again. It's not like they can run forever. Besides, if we lose them, we can just go get help in finding them once more."

Clenching his right hand tightly, Ichigo roughly bit out "I don't want to hunt these bastards forever."

Chuckling at his companion's candor, Iya glanced ahead and sniffed the air. Finding no scents in the air, he swiveled his ears and extended his senses to search for demonic auras and any kind of signs of the mages. Not picking any up, his brow furrowed, but continued running.

Sensing something amiss, Iya glanced up in the air. "_What is this feeling? It's like the air pressure is changing, but that shouldn't be happening. There are no signs of a storm in the area, so the air pressure shouldn't change._"

Eyes widening suddenly at coming to a conclusion to what was happening, he jumped over into Ichigo, throwing the pair off to the side just as a bolt of lightning struck the spot where they would have been running at.

Tumbling to the ground, the two quickly rolled around to their feet. Glancing at where the bolt of lightning had struck, Ichigo and Iya cast their eyes around the area and found their attacker easily enough.

Standing in a tree, a woman with grayish-purple hair held up in a ponytail that stuck up, gray eyes, a coy smile, and wore a set of black robes stood looking down at the pair.

In a soft purr, she said "Ah, too bad, I missed the two of you. I was certain I wouldn't miss. How'd you know it was coming?"

"The air pressure changed." Iya retorted in a clipped tone. "Since I have ice powers, I'm able to sense how the air feels, and I sensed just a moment before you struck a shift in the air pressure."

"Well, you're no fun then. I guess I should have known you could do that." the woman replied with a pout.

Throwing a glance over at Ichigo, Iya saw the anger and fire was spewing from his partner's eyes. "_Ichigo, please don't lose that temper of yours. I need you to stay with me if we must fight this mage._"

Sniffing the air, Iya found no other scents in the area, no could smell the woman before him. Realizing someone could be downwind of him behind the pair, he reached out with his senses once more, looking for anything that could prove that someone was near them.

"_That's strange... I can sense a bit of a cold front behind us, and a very low demonic aura. I'm guessing the demon with the aura is hiding their own, while the cold front I'm sensing could be nothing, or it could be another mage. Only one way to find out._"

Reaching out and taking hold of Ketsaiga's hilt, Iya drew the sword, sparking it's transformation instantly. The woman in the tree watched him carefully, seemingly mesmerized by his movements.

Drawing the sword to his right side, Iya called forth Ketsaiga's second transformation, causing ice to cover the blade while wisps of icy steam came up off of the blade. Ice quickly covered the blade and began to glow with a light blue demonic aura.

Spinning around quickly, Iya swung the mighty sword, screaming out "Shard Storm!"

Hundreds of small ice shards went flying into the forest in the opposite direction of the female mage. Trees were sliced through easily by the shards, leaving many holes through them and sending some crashing to the ground. In the commotion, two figures leapt into the air to avoid the ice shards, revealing their presence.

Hitting the ground, the pair landed twenty feet away from Iya and Ichigo. The first was a short young man who had white hair that was combed back and had emerald green eyes, and wore a set of black robes with a blue handled hilt sticking out of the back of his robes. The second was a young woman with long pink hair that was held into two ponytails that trailed down to her butt, with her bangs pulled back to reveal her forehead, and she had emerald eyes as well. Her clothing was simply a set of black robes with black gloves on her hands.

"So, you found us." the white haired young man spoke up with a small smirk.

Reversing Ketsaiga's icy transformation to it's metal blade form, Iya nonchalantly replied "It wasn't too hard. Much like your friend here, I could sense the air pressure difference, thus I concluded someone else was behind us."

Motioning towards the pink haired young woman, Iya added "As for sensing her, I was able to pick up on her demonic aura. It was faint, but just barely visible to me."

"I see. I suppose I'll have to work on that." the young pink haired woman commented.

Moving so that they were back to back, Iya and Ichigo stared over the three mages. "I must admit, I'm surprised to see the three of you." Iya casually said. "I didn't expect your leader to send the three of you. I'm amazed and flattered at the same time."

"Flattery will not save you from us this time, Iya Taisho." the young man icily declared.

Slightly chuckling, Iya calmly retorted "I'm not worried. After all, facing off with three of the most gifted mages is not a surprise. I assumed one day I would have to face off with you three, but I never imagined that all three of you would come at once."

"Just be lucky that we are the ones to come to end your life." the grayish-purple haired woman commented.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Iya responded calmly with "I suppose, but our lives will not be ending here today, Mage Anko."

Hearing the sound of the purple haired mage gasp in shock, Iya half turned and cast a glance at her, saying "Yes, I know who you are Mage Anko Mitarashi, the mage who is a thunder demon and controls lightning."

Throwing a glance back towards the other two, Iya added "And I know of you two also, Mage Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Mage Sakura Haruno. Mage Tōshirō, you are an ice demon and control ice, while Mage Sakura, you are an earth elemental demon, but your specialties are blended. You have power of earth, but are also a healing mage. You were trained personally by Mage Tsunade."

The three mages instantly gasped in shock at the info Iya had spouted off, but Tōshirō quickly recovered and smirked. "So, you've been studying up on us, eh?" he questioned.

"But of course." Iya nonchalantly replied with a nod. "To track you all, I had to learn more about each of you. I've learned enough to know what you look like and what type of half demons you prefer, and what type of demons you are. I must admit, seeing the three of you here must mean your master has decided I'm a true threat."

Scoffing, Anko remarked "Not quite. The only reason we're here to kill you off is due that you're becoming a real annoyance. I'll give you credit, you killed off that idiot Kenpachi, and then surprised us all by taking out Ed and Al, but your luck has run out against the three of us."

Eyeing Ichigo, Anko slyly smirked and added "Ah yes, and you, little bobcat, we have no real interest in you. You're no threat, to anyone in all reality."

"Why you…" Ichigo growled out while drawing his halberd.

"Temper, temper." Anko smartly commented while wagging a finger.

Beginning to lurch forward, Ichigo suddenly felt Iya grab hold of his kimono top, stopping him from launching himself at the female thunder demon. In a low whisper, Iya said "Ichigo, calm yourself. I need to ask you something."

Whispering back, he asked "What?"

"Can you handle Anko alone?"

"You doubt my strength now?" Ichigo irritably asked.

Lightly chuckling, Iya softly replied "No, but I need to know. If you can take her on, I should be able to take care of Tōshirō. That just leaves Sakura, who is an earth mage, but also a healing mage. I'm assuming she'll probably stay back from the battle and wait for an opening to help the others."

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo finally responded with "I can handle Anko. Just leave her to me."

"Alright, and I'll handle Tōshirō and possibly Sakura. If she goes after you, I'll try and stop her." Iya remarked.

"Right. Good luck."

"Same to you."

Returning their full attention to their opponents, Ichigo leapt forward at lightning fast speed at Anko, who quickly leapt from her perch and retreated a short distance. She quickly removed her robe, revealing her clothing. She had on a pale yellow trench coat that fell to her knees in length, fishnet that went from her shoulders to right above her knees, a brown skirt with a pouch attached on her backside, grey shin guards, and sandals.

Drawing a kunai knife from her pouch, she smirked and said "This is gonna be fun."


	38. Chapter 38: Past Foes, Pt 3

**Hey everyone! Well, I had an excellent weekend. Saturday, I went and saw **_**The Dark Knight**_**, and to be honest, it was well worth the wait. Keith Ledger's performance as the Joker was truly the best I've seen the Joker played as, live action or cartoon. He truly captured the insanity of the character. It's a shame he died, but it is his best work thus far, and I don't doubt he'll win an Oscar for it. And Christian Bale did an excellent job once more as Batman. He was born to play that role, hehe. But again, the movie was excellent. I would advise any of you that read this go see it if you haven't yet. My poor mate though, she cried at the end, and somewhere in the middle. It was a moving set of actions that happened, but still, not a tear jerker, for me possibly, lol. Anyways, the rest of my weekend was nice. I saw my grandparents yesterday, and that was about it.**

**Writing wise, things are slowly moving along. I keep trying to split time between this story and other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. It's kind of hard, but oh well.**

**Now then, time for reviews!**

**LadySalmakia: Hi there, and welcome to the reviews. Heh, one does have to wonder how things will go. The question of Iya and Lilly getting together, eh, never know. They could, although it's up in the air I'm sure, hehe. I know, evasiveness of the question sucks, lol. Hmm, someone go after Lilly you say? Never know, that could happen. I'm sure Iya wouldn't take it well. After all, he didn't react well when Ryo kissed her hand, hehe. I'm glad you love my story. I'm happy to hear that. I hope to hear from you again. I really appreciated your review. Thanks for the review.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! I didn't know how people would react to Ed and Al being on the mages side, and I guess this answers it, hehe. Well, they seemed like they could be bad, so I thought I'd try it. True, they are heroes in Fullmetal Alchemist, but in this story, they're evil, lol. After all, I heard a quote that said the following: "Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard, be evil." I suppose maybe that happened? I know, shut up Mr. Writer man, lol. They maybe innocent and sweet, but apparently they have a bad side to them. Anyways, I hope you forgive me for the misuse of them by watching me use Sakura, Toshiro, and Anko in an evil way, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Kattana: Yep, things look interesting in this upcoming fight. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all of the reviews. Thank you each for them. I truly appreciate all three of you reviewing this past chapter. I really liked hearing what you all thought, so thank you again for your reviews.**

**I'm done for today, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I plan on posting some pics of what these mages look like sometime in the near future, plus a general idea of what the others are wearing and look like. Mind you they are just images I found on the net, so don't become angry due that they don't look like the people I'm showing. It's more or less the clothing or person as I think they'd look. I'll try to get that to you on Friday.**

**Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 38**

Watching their comrade take off with Ichigo, Tōshirō looked at Iya and calmly asked "Shall we begin our little battle then?"

"Gladly." Iya commented while holding Ketsaiga in a ready position.

Removing his robe first, Tōshirō revealed he was wearing a white vest that reached his knees in length, which had black circles with lines in a pattern at the bottom of it. Underneath his vest, he wore a black kimono top and pants. Across his chest was a green strap that reached around to a blue sheath that held his sword on his back. The sword itself was as long as his body, with the hilt having a light blue cloth wrapping. On the guard of the sword was a four pointed star design.

Next to Tōshirō, Sakura removed her own robes, revealing a red blouse top that revealed her cleavage and had a pink circle on her back, a long black skirt that reached her lower calves that had slits up to her upper thigh, which revealed black shorts underneath, and a small pouch on her back.

"Sakura, stay back and allow me to handle this." Tōshirō stated while clutching the hilt of his long sword.

Glancing back and forth between Iya and Tōshirō, she finally heavily sighed and grunted out "Very well, but if you're in trouble, I will interfere."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Tōshirō dryly remarked while drawing his long sword and bringing it before his body.

Giving Sakura ample time to back away, Iya casually commented "You know, your clothing looks similar to that of Kenpachi's."

"Kenpachi and I wear similar clothing, but think nothing of it. It mostly symbolizes the fact that we were the founding members of The Thirteen. Kenpachi, Ichimaru, Byakuya, and I all four founded The Thirteen." Tōshirō remarked.

Processing and tucking the information away into his mind, Iya nodded and calmly replied "I see. So, you and Kenpachi were founding members, eh? Then that must mean you mages are taking me as more of a serious threat."

"Hardly." Tōshirō dryly remarked. "You are an annoyance that needs put down, once and for all. Mage Byakuya thinks you are not worth our time, with you being a half demon, but he has agreed with me to put you out of your misery."

"I'm flattered that you think that much of me." Iya commented with a small smirk. "I think it's time you mages learn that you should fear me, because Ichigo and myself will bring you remaining ten down."

"Oh please, don't patronize me." Tōshirō irritably said. "You, a lowly half breed, could never hope to be a match for us. As for that quarter breed, he isn't even worth recognition, even though Kenshin seems fond of torturing him. He was rather angry over losing his slave to that pathetic excuse for a nuisance. The only reason he lives is because Kenshin has yet to decide when to execute him."

Smirking, Iya calmly replied "It sounds to me as if you think Ichigo is not worth The Thirteen's time, nor am I. I shall prove all of you wrong once again. I killed Kenpachi and the Elric Brothers, so you and Sakura shall be next, along with Anko. Once the three of you are dead, I believe your Mage Byakuya will take both of us more seriously."

"Unlikely." Tōshirō bit out. "Enough talk."

"You're right, enough talking. Let's do this!" Iya declared while rushing forward.

Reaching Tōshirō, Iya swung downwards at the smaller man, only to be parried by the white haired mage. Their blades clashed together numerous times, each time with neither gaining the upper hand.

At long last, the pair separated, leaving fifteen feet between the two. Neither were panting, and each eyed the other for an opening or weakness.

"I must admit, I'm impressed. A half demon capable of fighting at this level is truly amazing this day and age." Tōshirō brashly commented.

Remaining calm, Iya commented back "Thanks, I try."

Bringing his sword up to his face, Tōshirō turned the blade sideways and said "You should feel honored that I'm about to unleash some of my sword's power. I've not had to do so in quite a few years. Behold the Shikai form of my sword. Reign over the frosted sky Hyōrinmaru!"

Letting out a light blue aura, the sword within Tōshirō's hand shot a chain out from it's hilt with a crescent moon attached to it. Upon being shot out of the sword, the chain floated mid-air, seemingly holding it's own weight up.

Eyeing the chain on the end of the sword warily, Iya calmly said "Before we continue this fight, I have a question for you."

"Be quick about it." Tōshirō snapped out.

Smirking at this, Iya calmly asked "That sword, was it created by Kisuke Urahara?"

Lightly chuckling, Tōshirō shook his head and replied "No, Urahara did not create this sword, but his former apprentice, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, did. Several years ago, we contracted Mayuri to become our official sword smith. Mages Byakuya, Ichimaru, Kenpachi, and myself all received swords first. A few others have received them. Why do you ask?"

"More curious than anything." Iya commented. "The words you said to activate your sword's Shikai form, it's something that Ichigo told me that Urahara said to activate his own sword's Shikai form. He creates a spirit for each sword, and to master the sword, I heard you must commune with the spirit. I'm just surprised his apprentice could do the same thing."

"If anything, Mayuri surpassed Urahara. The swords we have are strong and powerful, while the pathetic sword Urahara created, the one that that bobcat brat carries, is weak and nearly useless." Tōshirō brashly remarked.

Chuckling, Iya pointed Ketsaiga at Tōshirō and replied "You have no idea just how powerful Ichigo and his sword are. You'll see soon enough though, should you happen to defeat me, which is unlikely."

Growling irritably, Tōshirō fired back "You defeat me!? Such impudence! Now that I have released Hyōrinmaru into it's Shikai form, I shall destroy you!"

Racing forward at near blinding speed, Tōshirō lashed out at Iya, only to be parried. A small smirk played upon his lips as he jerked the chain hanging off the hilt around, attempting to use it to capture Iya.

Realizing what Tōshirō was planning, Iya quickly leapt away to safety and glanced at the chained sword. "_Hmm, the best approach to handling him would be to remove the chain, but can I?_"

Iya was quickly broken from his thoughts as Tōshirō came racing in, throwing the chain scythe on the chain at Iya. With a moment to spare, Iya mostly dodged the crescent moon shaped blade, only to have it graze his left shoulder. Ice instantly formed over the small wound, covering his shoulder and shocking Iya.

Glancing at the wound, he threw a glare at Tōshirō and heatedly asked "What is this!?"

"Ice, it appears." Tōshirō dryly remarked with a smirk. "That's the power of Hyōrinmaru. If it touches you, ice will form where it touched. Interesting, no?"

Clenching his left fist, Iya sank the blade of Ketsaiga into the ground before him and proceeded to reach up with his right hand and gently touched the ice. His clawed hand glowed for a moment before the ice vanished, making Tōshirō frown at this action.

"How could you do that to my ice?" the ice demon questioned with a frown.

Softly chuckling, Iya grabbed hold of Ketsaiga's hilt once more and dragged it back out of the ground and placed it in a ready position once more before his body. "You're not the only one around here with ice powers." Iya casually commented. "My mother passed her own power over ice onto me, thus granting me access to it. True, I am not as skilled as you probably with power over the cold, but I'm more than capable of defending myself from ice attacks."

Growling softly, Tōshirō launched his body forward with his sword swinging along with the chain and scythe. Reaching Iya, the two blades clashed while the chained scythe came swinging around, attempting to wrap around Iya.

Calculating how fast the scythe was moving, Iya quickly evaded the chain from wrapping around his body at the last second. Backing away slightly, Iya raced forward and brought a downward slash at the chain, only to have it yanked out of the way at the last moment with Tōshirō backing away himself.

"So, you've learned that to beat me, you'll need to destroy my chain, eh?" Tōshirō smugly commented. "Easier said than done. It's highly unlikely a half breed like you could ever cut through the chain."

Smirking, Iya cockily replied "Really? Then let's put that to the test!"

Rushing forward, Iya came in fast at the smaller ice demon with Ketsaiga swinging in a side slash. Tōshirō quickly countered, only to have Iya pull the sword back and slash out again with Ketsaiga. Again, Tōshirō parried the attack, but Iya quickly brought his sword back around again, attempting to slash at the chain. Time and time again, Tōshirō managed to parry Iya, but Iya's attacks quickly became more and more fierce, sending sparks from the two blades flying constantly.

After nearly fifteen minutes of fighting, the two finally broke apart, neither still out of breath or visibly tired. Staring at one another, both examined the other to for flaws or an opening.

Finally, Tōshirō smirked and spoke up, saying "Impressive. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. You are a bit of a worthy adversary. Perhaps that's why Kenpachi actually finished the fight with you, only to die in it."

"Perhaps, or perhaps you mages don't realize just how strong I truly am." Iya countered calmly.

Sneering, Tōshirō smugly retorted "Doubtful. No half breed could ever be a match for our true power."

"Is that so?" Iya candidly questioned.

Tōshirō was about to respond when Iya suddenly vanished. A moment later, he reappeared before the ice mage with Ketsaiga coming down fast. The sound of metal meeting metal sounded. A rattling sound was then heard as the chain that held the scythe to Tōshirō's blade fell to the ground.

Retreating, Iya smirked at Tōshirō and smugly asked "Didn't you say I couldn't remove the chain on your sword?"

Glaring at the remains of the chain on the ground, the ice demon threw a heated glare at Iya and roughly bit out "You managed to cut off Hyōrinmaru's chain… No more games. It's time I finished you."

Glowing with a bright light blue aura, Tōshirō growled out "Bankai!"

Ice instantly began traveling up Tōshirō's right arm from the guard of his sword. The ice quickly ran over his back and to above his rear and over to his left arm. His left arm gained a claw like structure made of ice while on his back, a pair of ice forged wings spread out and a tail sprouted from below the wings. The long tail whipped out while three four star shaped golden objects appeared floating behind him. At long last, the sword in his hand grew another four pointed star, making the guard have eight points on it.

Casting a cold glare at Iya, Tōshirō coldly said "Daiguren Hyōrinmaru."

"So, that's what a Bankai is." Iya murmured lowly. "Interesting, your sword's spirit seems to have come out more visibly and taken the form of armor for you."

"No more talk. You've said your last words, Iya Taisho." Tōshirō coldly remarked. "I will take great pleasure in ending your life."

"We'll see." Iya answered while readying Ketsaiga.

Spreading his ice wings, Tōshirō lifted his body off of the ground and went sailing towards Iya with his sword extended out and ready to plunge it into Iya. Seeing the oncoming attack, Iya managed to evade with a quick leap into the air.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME THAT EASILY!" Tōshirō shouted while taking to the air himself.

Unable to evade the oncoming attack, Iya quickly repositioned his body so that nothing vital on his body would be hit. Tōshirō's attack managed to graze his left shoulder, making Iya slightly hiss from the pain of the cold steel passing over his shoulder. Falling to the ground and landing on his feet, Iya quickly moved away from the ice demon and gazed at his injured left shoulder. Ice had sprouted onto it the moment he had been struck, and coated his entire left arm.

Darkly chuckling, Tōshirō landed on the ground and smartly said "It looks like you're about to lose this fight. With only one arm, no mere half breed can beat me. Your death is imminent."

Remaining calm, Iya remarked "I'm not any mere half breed though. You mages have yet to figure that out, but I'll show each of you what I mean. Your comrades Kenpachi, Ed, and Al all three underestimated me, and you are no different."

"Enough you mangy cur!" Tōshirō bit out. "I shall avenge my comrades today, ending your pitiful assault against The Thirteen."

Closing his eyes, Iya calmly replied "Very well, come and let's end this."

Racing forward on his ice wings, Tōshirō attempted to stab Iya, only to have his sword graze off of Ketsaiga. Whipping around with blinding speed, Iya slashed out at Tōshirō, managing to land a small cut on the ice mage's back, who lightly hissed in pain.

Turning back around, the mage lashed out at Iya once more, this time attempting to stab him in the chest once more. Iya again dodged by parrying the attack with Ketsaiga, using the broad side of the blade to hold back Tōshirō's sword. Pushing the attack back, Iya swung the sword at Tōshirō one handed, only to miss.

Glaring at the ice on his shoulder, he flicked his glance back at the young ice mage. "_No way I can win this with only one arm. If I had a few moments to free myself, I could beat him probably._"

Clasping the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly, Iya swung the blade to his right side, causing it to pulsate and coat itself with ice. Icy steam poured off of the blade as ice crystals formed.

With a mighty swing, Iya cried out "Shard Storm!"

Hundreds of small razor sharp ice crystals went flying at the short ice mage, who glared at the oncoming attack. Without a word, his wings suddenly pulled inwards, forming a shield before him. The ice crystals slammed into the wings, but they didn't penetrate through. Instead, they managed to dig into the wings, but still jutted out.

Removing his wings from his face, Tōshirō examined one of the wings and saw the ice crystals sticking out of them. Casting a hard glare at Iya, he growled out "You will not kill me with my element!"

Not having time to reply, Iya watched as the small ice demon raced towards him. Pulling Ketsaiga into the air, Iya slammed it into the ground, yelling "Ice Barrier!"

Forming before Iya instantly was a twenty foot tall wall of ice, which was seemingly three foot thick. Tōshirō quickly stopped his advance and leapt off to the side, eyeing the wall carefully.

With his wall obscuring his movements, Iya quickly sank Ketsaiga into the ground and reached over to his left shoulder. Placing his hand on it, he called forth his abilities over the cold and began removing the ice. The ice quickly receded, releasing his shoulder and arm from it's icy tomb.

Grabbing Ketsaiga, Iya stepped out from behind the ice wall to see Tōshirō standing there waiting. "So, you removed the ice on your arm?" Tōshirō questioned while examining Iya's arm carefully. "Foolish move, because even two arms won't save you."

Racing forward at near blinding speed again, the ice demon slashed out at Iya, who barely dodged the attack. Swinging around, Tōshirō sent his ice tail ahead and slammed it into Iya's back, catching the half demon off guard.

With Iya's attention diverted, Tōshirō plunged his sword into Iya, coldly saying "Ryūsenka."

Ice immediately began forming on Iya's body where the sword was plunged in. Within a few seconds time, his entire body was encased in ice.

Removing his sword, the ice demon smugly commented "I told you that you wouldn't win against me. I am an ice mage, thus I have far more power than you could ever hope to defeat. I will give you this, you made me draw out my full power, but in the end, you lose."

Glowing with a light blue aura, the ice on Tōshirō's back broke off and fell to the ground, along with the ice on his arms. Turning and casually walking away, the mage sheathed his sword and calmly said "Sakura, deliver the killing blow. I tire of this fight."

"That's rather lazy of you." Sakura commented with a frown. With a heavy sigh, she moved from her spot to where Iya's ice statue stood. Holding her right gloved hand up, she sent blue glowing energy into her hand, saying "This is no fun."

Pulling back her arm, she readied to deliver the blow when suddenly, the ice broke apart, forcing the pink haired mage to leap backwards while covering her face from the ice shards.

Panting lightly, Iya fiercely glared at the ice mage that had his back to him. The short mage stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to face Iya with a heavy frown on his face. "How did you survive that attack?" he questioned.

Still panting, Iya smirked and breathlessly said "I told you before I have power over the cold. Your attack, it was aimed at freezing my body and killing me, but I managed to stop that with my ice powers. True, I'm just a half dog demon and nowhere nearly as skilled as an ice demon, but I still have the ability to keep the cold from killing me."

"Still, that didn't stop the damage you did to my body. I obviously have a gut wound now, but it'll heal." Iya commented while holding his hand over the wound. "But you could have beat me. You had time to kill me, but instead, you walked away. That will be your undoing in this battle."

Clenching his fist tightly, the ice mage coldly retorted "I should have known you'd survive that attack."

Calming his breathing at last, Iya smirked and silkily replied "You should have, but failed to. And it will cost you."

Racing forward at blinding speed, Iya swung Ketsaiga at the white haired ice mage. The ice mage almost completely evaded Iya's attack, but the tip of Ketsaiga cut into his left shoulder, ripping through cloth and scratching his bare skin. Settling in his new position, the mage glanced at the light red dot forming on his shoulder and grabbed hold of the hilt on his sword.

"That was your last attack. Reign over the frosted sky Hyōrinmaru!" Tōshirō declared while drawing his sword. It instantly transformed, shooting the chain and it's scythe blade out.

Remaining calm, Iya charged forward, making the white haired mage prepare for his oncoming attack. At the last moment, when Tōshirō was anticipating Iya to come at him with a downward slash, Iya vanished and reappeared behind the mage with Ketsaiga out to his side. A moment later, blood sprayed out of Tōshirō's right shoulder where he had seemingly been cut.

Falling forward and slamming his weight into his sword, Tōshirō lightly panted while throwing a glare over his shoulder at Iya. Clutching his sword tightly, Tōshirō icily remarked "I see now. Your speed is greater than I first thought. Then I have no choice but to release my Bankai once more."

"Go ahead, I'll wait." Iya calmly replied.

"Tōshirō!" Sakura cried out while running to his side. Reaching him, she brought her hands up towards his wound, but he knocked her hands away. Confused, she asked "What's wrong with you!? I need to heal you!"

"Stop Sakura." Tōshirō icily commanded. "I don't need any help in dealing with this mongrel. I'll kill him with my own strength and that alone."

Shaking her head rapidly, Sakura quickly replied "No Tōshirō, remember what Byakuya said…"

"I DON'T CARE!" Tōshirō roared. "I have disgraced myself by failing to kill this half breed when I had the chance, and to make up for it, I will kill him on my own! So stay out of this!"

Shocked by his words, Sakura began to heatedly reply, but stopped. With a heavy sigh, she backed away to where she had been watching, casually saying "Fine, I'll stay back, but if you die, you die due to your own foolishness."

"I won't." Tōshirō dryly remarked. "It will be that half breed who dies here today."

Alone once more, the ice demon ground out "Bankai!"

Like before, ice began coating the small ice mage's body, with icy wings forming on his back, ice on his arms, and ice on his shoulders. The tail of his ice formed, along with the three four pointed star shapes.

Fiercely glaring at Iya, Tōshirō coldly said "You will pay with your very life for making a fool out of me."

Raising Ketsaiga to a ready position, Iya calmly replied "You are the fool for coming after me once more and refusing help."

With a heavy beat of his wings, the ice mage lifted off the ground and went racing towards Iya with his sword ready to pierce through him. With only a few feet before him left, Iya slammed Ketsaiga into the ground, crying out "Ice Barrier!"

Before Iya, a large ice wall formed, forcing the ice mage to stab his sword into the wall of ice with a gasp of shock. He didn't have long to look at the wall, for a moment later, Iya was behind him and said "This is the end."

With that said, Iya slammed Ketsaiga into the ground, yelling "Wind Slash!"

Racing a few feet forward, a white beam of demonic energy slammed into the white haired ice mage, who could only scream out in pain while the beam cut through his body, sending ice and blood flying through the air. The scream soon was silenced while the towering wall of ice crumbled to the ground in massive chunks.

Walking a few feet away from the debris and blood, Iya turned and faced Sakura. In a cold as steel voice, he said "You're next, Mage Sakura, unless you wish to surrender and leave The Thirteen."

Placing her hands on her hips, she venomously spat back "I could never betray my brethren! How dare you make such an offer after killing Tōshirō! You will pay with your life, you half breed."

Raising blue glowing fists, she sharply said "I won't hold back just because you're tired or worn out. I'll kill you and avenge all of my fallen comrades."

"Then come and get me." Iya flatly replied.

--

Dodging a few lightning bolts, Ichigo found cover behind a rock while panting lightly and glancing over his body. He already had a few minor wounds from Anko's kunai, but he also had a few burns on his body where she had managed to strike him with her lightning attacks.

"_Damn it, that woman is infuriating. Every time I try to get close to her, she uses her lightning to push me away._" he grumbled within his mind. "_And if that wasn't bad enough, when she gets close to me, she's able to use her lightning to her advantage, shocking me or attempting to while slashing me with her kunai._"

"_What's the matter Ichigo?_" Zangetsu questioned within Ichigo's mind. "_Aren't you capable of defeating her? If you fail here, you fail Rukia. Is that what you want?_"

Clutching the hilt of his sword tightly, Ichigo roared back in his mind "_No! I will defeat her, and move on to avenge Rukia by cutting down Kenshin!_"

"_Then you had better call for my Shikai, because in my normal state, you will never defeat your enemy._" Zangetsu remarked with a small smirk.

Smirking at the spirit of his sword, Ichigo closed his eyes and summoned up the transformation of his sword. The blade quickly glowed with a light blue aura and instantly changed into it's cleaver blade shape.

"_Ichigo, do you remember what Kisuke Urahara taught you?_" the sword's spirit questioned.

Thinking back, Ichigo heard the words of his former master ringing in his ears. "_When you counter, you don't let them cut you. When you protect someone, you don't let them die. When you attack, you kill. Understand? Can't you see, my sheer resolve to kill you is reflected in my sword._"

Remembering the lesson now, Ichigo clutched the hilt of Zangetsu tightly. Standing up from his hiding spot, he walked out from behind the rock that hid him. Seeing this, Anko smirked.

"So, you pulled out that big sword of yours. Too bad you still can't figure out how to use it correctly." Anko mischievously remarked.

Still gripping the hilt tightly, Ichigo took a deep breath, causing his eyes to turn light blue in coloring. Pulling his sword up so that it sat on his shoulder length ways, his whole body began to glow with a light blue demonic aura, while the blade of Zangetsu did the same thing.

Calmly, he said "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I've finally found my resolve. This time, I will get you."

"We've been through this before Ichigo." Anko smugly remarked. "To beat me, you'll need to get close range, which is impossible for you apparently, unless you like being struck by my lightning."

Radiating more of his demonic aura, Ichigo suddenly lunged forward with Zangetsu still sitting on his shoulders. Smirking at the oncoming figure, Anko pointed at the quarter bobcat and released a stream of lightning from her finger. With quick reflexes, Ichigo dodged the attack, surprising the thunder demon.

Pointing again at her target, Anko fired another beam of lightning at the hard charging Ichigo, only to again have him dodge at the last moment. Firing off a few shots at the same time, Anko smirked till Ichigo managed to dodge each of the attacks.

He was at long last within five feet of Anko and brought Zangetsu above his head and let out a loud roar. "DIE!" he screamed while gripping the hilt with both hands and attempting to slash her in half.

Just as his sword was a couple of feet away from Anko's head, a barrier of lightning formed, stopping the attack from hitting her. Ichigo's eyes instantly widened in shock and lost the light blue coloring, returning to their brown color.

Smirking at the results that her barrier had, Anko pointed a finger at Ichigo's right shoulder, making his eyes widen even more. Lightning flared to life out of her finger, piercing straight through his shoulder.

Screaming out loud in pain, Ichigo quickly backed away, dragging Zangetsu mostly with the aid of his left arm while his right one was in great pain. Reaching a distance of fifteen feet, he hissed in pain while looking at the wound in his shoulder.

"Didn't I tell you that you can't beat me?" Anko smugly reminded. "I told you that for a reason, due that if you get past my lightning blasts, you still have to deal with my lightning barrier, which will protect me always. You have no chance at beating me, little bobcat. If I was you, I'd just surrender and die in a somewhat peaceful way."

Panting heavily, Ichigo glared at the thunder demon and muttered "Why you…"

Eyeing the female thunder demon warily, Ichigo glanced for any openings, but saw none in her defenses. Falling to one knee, he closed his eyes and attempted to catch his breath once more. "_Damn it, what now!? She has the ability to fire lightning at me from her finger tips, is more than capable at wielding that kunai knife in her hand, and has a barrier of lightning just in case I make it past her lightning attacks. So how am I going to beat her!?_"

"_Ichigo, there is a way._" the voice of his sword's spirit called out in his mind. "_Every demon has a limited amount of power. True, she uses lightning, but like other demons, she has a limit. If you can force her to reach her limit..._"

"_Then I can crush her!_" Ichigo declared while cutting off the spirit. Smirking, he mumbled back "_Thanks Zangetsu._"

Flashing his eyes opened, Ichigo stood back up quickly and smirked slightly. Seeing the smirk, Anko curiously asked "What's the smirk for?"

"I know what I must do to win." Ichigo calmly remarked while pulling his sword up onto his shoulders with his weakened right arm. He slightly winced at doing so, but remained calm.

"_This isn't going to be easy, but I can do it, I know it._" he declared in his mind.

Charging forward, Ichigo watched as Anko sighed. "You'll never learn, you fool." she muttered.

Raising a finger, she fired a stream of lightning at the quarter bobcat demon, only to have him dodge the attack. Irritated by this, Anko fired another shot, only to miss her target once again. Again and again, she fired shots, only to have Ichigo dodge her.

Finally with only five feet between them, Ichigo drew Zangetsu and slashed downwards at the female mage, only to strike her lightning barrier like before.

"You never learn." Anko remarked while pointing her finger at the quarter demon. A few sparks started flaring to life at the tip of her index finger while she let out a cruel smirk.

Just before the shot was fired, Ichigo moved out of the way, surprising the female thunder demon. Not far from where he had been, the young quarter bobcat slammed his sword into the barrier again, making the eyes of Anko widen a little.

"You little…" she began, only to watch Ichigo leap away when she began to fire a blast at him.

Rushing forward once more, Ichigo slammed Zangetsu into the barrier again and again, making Anko frown. "Enough of this!" she growled out in frustration.

Pointing a finger at him, Anko smirked, but suddenly frowned when nothing but a few sparks sputtered out of her finger. "What the!?" she questioned with a gasp of surprise.

Leaping away, Ichigo charged forward once more and slammed his sword into the barrier again. This time, the barrier began to give under the weight of his sword, making Anko's eyes widen in surprise.

"What the hell is going on!?" Anko questioned aloud.

A moment passed and her barrier finally shattered. Reaching out, Anko used her kunai to parry Ichigo's attack just as her barrier collapsed completely.

Chuckling softly while grinding the full weight of his sword against the kunai, Ichigo calmly said "This is a surprise. I thought you'd have realized that the more of your lightning you used, the weaker your barrier would get, and vice-versa. That's why I dodged so many of your attacks and slammed into your barrier. The more pressure I put on you to defend yourself, the more energy you burnt up. And now, I'd be guessing that you've nearly exhausted all of your power."

Eyes widening at Ichigo's declaration, Anko let out a furious yell and began pushing back, only to find her blade couldn't push Ichigo backwards. Trying to call forth some of her lightning powers to bring her barrier back up, Anko gasped in shock when she found she had no more energy left.

"It's over mage." Ichigo declared. "Surrender and your death will be quick."

Pushing herself away from Ichigo, Anko venomously spat back "NEVER! I am the lightning mage of The Thirteen, Anko Mitarashi, and I shall not be defeated by a quarter bobcat brat!"

Shrugging, Ichigo calmly replied "I gave you a chance at life. It's your choice to throw it away naturally, but how are you planning on beating me as you are? You have no power, so you're defenseless."

Clutching her kunai tightly, Anko glared at Ichigo and let out a battle cry while charging forward at him. Watching her movements, Ichigo summoned up his demonic power, causing his light blue aura to surround his body. His eyes instantly turned light blue in color while he raised his sword up.

Slamming it downwards at the charging Anko, he released a beam of bright white energy, which swallowed Anko completely. Her blood curdling scream filled the air as the blast engulfed her completely.

The blast slowly cleared off, while dust and smoke filled the air. On the ground, the blood soaked body of Anko was revealed.

With a heavy sigh, Ichigo collapsed to his knees while panting and leaning heavily on his sword. In his mind, he felt the presence of Zangetsu, who was smirking.

"_Well done Ichigo._"

Feeling his eyes growing heavy, Ichigo mumbled "Thank you Master Zangetsu…" With his words said, he passed out and fell to the ground while his sword returned to it's normal state.


	39. Chapter 39: Hidden Strength and Fears

**Hello again everyone! Well, this past week has been fun. I got to talk with my step brother yesterday, which was interesting. The poor guy, I feel bad for him having to stay with my dad and step mom, but he's headed to college next month, so he'll get some relief at least, which I'm glad. Hmm, what else? Oh yeah, I found out I maybe headed out on another business trip here in the next few weeks. That's a maybe, due that the guy me and my coworker are partnered up on our project with may come down here, but either way, things should be interesting. Hmm, not much else to really talk about I suppose, other that in three weeks, my mate and I are headed for Myrtle Beach, SC, for a nice relaxing vacation. Chapters will still be posted and all, but I'm just looking forward to going away and relaxing, lol.**

**Writing wise, I've finally hit a portion of this story that I'm very enthusiastic to work on, so chapter writing should begin moving faster, with any luck. I still have work to do on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, but it's finally got enough chapters at the moment to keep itself stable. I have another chapter or two to work on it till it's time for my partner to take back over, so we'll see how it goes. I think though, with any luck, I should be able to move quicker in writing my chapters and begin posting more chapters, sometime. I really want to post two chapters a week for this story, but again, it's hard to due that I don't have enough wrote at the moment. Eh, it's so hard to write two stories at once, lol.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**reanabff, aka Lady Salmakia: Heh, I know the feeling, I hate it when a chapter ends and things aren't done yet. I think we got the discussion on me posting chapters out of the way, so good good. By the way, thank you for reviewing and your enthusiasm about my story. I greatly appreciate it. Thanks once more for your review!**

**Kattana: Glad you liked the two fights. Heh, the next fight should be interesting between Iya and Sakura. Thanks for your review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! I suppose Ed and Al aren't bad, but I could see them in a bad boy light also. Not as easily as some characters, but it could happen, hehe. (/Pulls out sword.\) Don't make me use this! Lol, just a little energized, hehe. Possibly there was too much dialogue between Iya and Toshiro. What can I say, Toshiro was a talker, lol. Yes, it's Heathe Ledger that played the Joker in Dark Knight, not Keith, lol. I made a mistake. (/Hears gasps from crowd.\) It happens! (/Sees crowd of fan girls getting ready to attack, each wearing Joker makeup.\) Uh oh… A little help Mitsukai? (/Notes she is missing.\) Lovely… Lol, anyways, thanks for your review.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews, and to you Lady Salmakia for adding me to your fav stories and authors. I truly appreciate that, in all honesty.**

**I think that's about it for me. For now, I'm off to fight off the fan girls. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 39**

Raising his sword once more, Iya warily eyed the pink haired mage before him. "_Damn it, I'm getting tired. Fighting both her and the ice mage wasn't such a good idea now that I think about the results. So far, when I've managed to cut her, she just heals, while my wounds continue to pile up. She's already broke a few of my ribs, and I'm lucky to still have both arms._"

Noting the mage before him was panting as heavily as himself, he softly smiled in his mind. "_At least I've seemingly got as much endurance as her. Even though she's beat the hell out of me, she's no stronger than possibly one of the Elrics alone. I should be thankful that she's not as strong as Tōshirō, because then I'd be in real trouble._"

Waking from his thoughts, Iya saw the pink haired mage charging him with her right blue glowing fist raised. Cringing at the thought of receiving another hit from it, Iya readied himself for the attack.

Coming in fast, the mage swung at him with her right fist, which Iya barely managed to dodge. Spinning around, Iya slashed out at her with a side slash, only to miss. Quickly turning back to face him, Sakura lashed out with her right fist again, only to hit air as Iya quickly dodged the oncoming attack. Not watching her left hand, he was surprised to see it appear before him and smash into his right side.

Instantly, Iya cried out in pain when he felt his ribs give way to her superior strength. In desperation, he leapt away, putting some distance between the two. Coughing roughly, he spat up a small pool of blood while resting one hand over his wound.

"I see you're starting to slip up." Sakura smugly declared.

Wiping the blood away from his mouth with his free hand, Iya glared at the pink haired mage and muttered "I'm not done yet."

"You're getting there though." she sharply remarked. "By the way your body looks, you're falling apart at the seams. Your breathing is heavy, heart rate high, eyes a bit dilated, and you're in a sweat. Obviously, your strength is faltering, meaning it is only a matter of time before I kill you."

Smirking slightly, Iya replied "But your body is singing the same song. You obviously can't keep up this rate of battle either, for your sweating profusely, breathing just as heavy as me, and your movements are slowing."

"But not at the same rate yours are." she pointed out. "True, I'm tiring, but you have fought two opponents in foolish fashion. That has taken a lot out of you, and it's showing in you as fatigue. I was trained as a healing mage, so I can tell the signs of someone who is exhausted. You may have fooled one of the others, other than my Master, but I cannot be fooled. Your body language tells me that you're weakening, and it's only a matter of time before you run out of strength."

Lightly growling, he glared at the mage. "_She's right about one thing. I'm growing tired, and the more she harms me, the less my chances of killing her become. Right now, I may have another good ten or twenty minutes in me before I'm too tired to fight. If not for the fact I'm so exhausted and don't have enough energy to transform into my dog form I would, but again, I'm too exhausted and don't have the energy to do it now. Even if I could, I don't know if that form could beat her at this rate._"

"_My only chance at the moment is to keep my distance and try to come up with a strategy to beat her. As is, with these broken ribs, I'll be slowed a bit. I just need an opening to end this._"

A yell instantly broke Iya out of his thoughts as he watched the pink haired mage charging him. Raising Ketsaiga, he slammed the sword into the ground, screaming out "Wind Slash!"

Flaring to life before Iya was a beam of white demonic energy. The beam went racing towards Sakura with extreme quickness and destructive abilities.

Stopping in her tracks, Sakura began a series of hand signs and slammed her right palm into the ground, screaming out "Earth Wall Barrier!"

Materializing around her body instantly was a sphere of dirt that seemed to harden and compact itself. The white beam of demonic energy struck the dirt, but didn't destroy the sphere.

Watching the barrier fade away, Iya saw the panting Sakura reappear. Breathing hard, she weakly said "Not bad half breed. That attack nearly got me, but I'm still here. I know it took a lot out of me to block that, so it had to take a lot out of you to send it at me. Is that all you have?"

Glaring at the mage, Iya clenched his left hand tightly while grimacing from the pain in his ribs. "_Damn, I was sure that the Wind Slash would kill her. She is right about one thing though. Using that attack took a lot out of me, meaning I don't have too much longer to fight her. I'm guessing I might have another five to ten minutes left in me. And she's right about one other thing: my power is fading faster than her own. That means I'm going to have to finish this soon._"

Gripping Ketsaiga tightly, Iya raced forward. Sakura readied herself and barely managed to dodge Iya's downward slash. Raising a glowing right fist, Sakura shot it out at his chest, only to watch Iya dodge her counter for the most part, but she managed to graze his left side. Letting out a low growl of pain, Iya leapt back a few feet and slammed his sword to the ground, screaming out "WIND SLASH!"

Immediately, a beam of white demonic energy went racing forward towards the pink haired mage, whose eyes widened in complete shock. Reacting quickly, she began a series of hand signs and slammed her right palm to the ground, crying out "Earth Wall Barrier!"

Dirt quickly formed around her body in the shape of a sphere, but barely managed to compact and harden just as the beam slammed into it.

Sending power into Ketsaiga, Iya watched as the blade frosted over with icy steam rolling off it's blade. Swinging it to his right side, numerous ice crystals formed on the blade, each glowing with light blue demonic energy. Swinging his sword back to his left with his full strength, Iya yelled "Shard Storm!"

Hundreds of ice crystals instantly leapt off of the blade and went flying towards the sphere of dirt. The crystals managed to penetrate the barrier, causing a scream to fill the air. Soon enough, the barrier collapsed, revealing a very wounded pink haired mage. On her body were numerous gashes, showing where the shards of ice had penetrated her body and passed through it.

Weakly coughing and spitting up a puddle of blood, Sakura heatedly glared at Iya. Raising her hands before herself, she slapped one on one of her chest wounds. Green energy quickly covered her hand. The wound slowly began to close and the bleeding stopped.

Growling lowly, Iya stared at the pink haired mage slowly healing her chest wound with slow results. "_She's exhausted, but is still capable of healing._"

Stopping the bleeding from her chest, Sakura let out a raspy sigh and stood back up while turning a heated look at Iya. "You'll pay for that one." she sharply remarked.

"_This isn't good. I used a lot of my strength in those last two attacks. At this rate, I probably only have one last attack in me. I need to make it count, otherwise I'll be dead._"

Hearing Sakura running towards him, Iya prepared himself to dodge. The pink haired mage struck out at him with her right fist, but he managed to barely avoid it. Not finished, the mage quickly swung around and shot her left fist out at Iya's body. In desperation, he quickly dodged the attack and back flipped a few feet away.

"_Damn, she's so persistent!_"

Iya's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Sakura charging him. A blue glowing fist shot out at him, but Iya managed to raise Ketsaiga up to block the attack with it's broad side. Trying to back away once more, Iya found Sakura following him and her left fist coming towards him. Eyes widening when he saw her fist coming, he reached out with his right hand and attempted to block the fist from harming him. With scream, Iya stopped the attack, only to feel the bones in his palm shatter.

Finding a surprised look on Sakura's face, Iya quickly leapt away, giving himself a bit of breathing room. His right hand was limp, so he allowed his arm to fall to his side.

Staring one another down, both eyed each other for an opening. In a breathless voice, Sakura casually said "I'm surprised you blocked my last attack with your bare hand. That had to hurt when I crushed it."

"Yeah, well you don't look as healed like normal. Looks like you're about out of power like myself." Iya remarked.

Raising her glowing blue fist, Sakura replied "I say we finish this. I don't think either of us can fight much longer, so let's end this with one last attack."

Slightly smirking, Iya raised Ketsaiga and said "Why not."

"Here I come half breed, because after this attack, one of us won't be standing." Sakura declared while tensing up to attack.

Readying himself, Iya replied "Let's end this mage!"

Both figures raced forward, each ready to strike. Reaching one another, Sakura shot her fist out at Iya. With all his strength, Iya managed to reposition his body so that only his right shoulder was in the path of Sakura's fist. Her fist struck his shoulder hard, shattering the bone completely. Crying out in pain, but still moving, Iya spun around and plunged Ketsaiga through the pink haired mage's chest. A gasp was heard and then the sound of blood spattering to the ground.

Withdrawing Ketsaiga, Iya watched blood spill out of her wound and her mouth. Shock was on the mage's face, but after a moment, her eyes dimmed and finally closed for the last time. A moment later, she fell to the ground dead.

Letting out a ragged sigh, Iya slowly tried to sheath Ketsaiga, finding it nearly impossible with his right hand broken. After a few awkward moments, he finally managed to sheath the sword and began walking away from the battlefield.

--

"With Sakura's defeat, that left only the seven mages we're currently tracking." Iya calmly remarked upon finishing his tale. Softly smiling, he added "The fight with those three left me and Ichigo banged up a bit, but we recovered obviously and began tracking the remaining seven once more."

The group slowly processed the information and allowed the story to sink in. In a quiet voice, Lilly mumbled "It's a shame there isn't another way."

Not too surprised by Lilly's tone, Iya sighed and replied "I know. I tried to reason with Sakura, but she refused. I would rather not shed blood, but the mages don't care. None of them will listen to reason. And besides, the seven that are left think they are correct, no matter what you say to them."

"Not too surprising for a group who think they have to answer to no one." Ichigo input with a grunt.

Silence enveloped the group for a moment till Kagome yawned loudly. Apologetically, she mumbled "Sorry about that. I need to get to bed."

"I'm going to bed also." Inuyasha quickly remarked.

Looking up at the sky, Iya calmly added "It is late. We should all get some sleep."

The remainder of the group nodded at this, with Lilly and Orihime proceeding to walk over to where their spots were picked out. Iya and Ichigo each took to a tree, with Kagome and Inuyasha curled up together away from the group.

Glancing at his group, Iya softly smiled at them all. Closing his eyes, he felt his body slowly falling into a light slumber while his senses remained sharp.

--

Stopping at long last for the night, Sesshomaru's group began setting up camp. It had been four long days since traveling had began again, with the group moving constantly thanks to Sesshomaru. The Lord of the Western Lands seemed hell bent on recovering all the time the group had lost from being lain up with injuries.

Leaving the group like always, Sesshomaru looked behind him to see Rin following him at a slow pace. Eyeing her for a moment, the Demon Lord pondered on his ward's condition.

"_Since two days ago, she has been capable of running on her own. We trained last night, but she passed out from it due that it over exerted her. I wonder, will this training truly work for her?_"

Reaching a clearing, Sesshomaru turned to face Rin. Like always, she began stretching out her lean body and silently preparing herself for their nightly training.

Staring at her, Sesshomaru's brow furrowed. "_Can she complete the training that Iya did? After all, Iya was formally trained prior to father taking him for his additional training._"

Smirking within his mind, he remembered how he and his father had built a training regiment for Iya to help bring out his half brother's inner demonic power. The goal had been to help Iya learn to bring his demonic blood closer to the surface, but to be able to remain in control.

"_Father said that Iya had difficulties with the training, but managed to complete his training. Still, Iya was already an accomplished fighter and more than capable of wielding Ketsaiga at a young age, while Rin has only had a few weeks training as a half demon. I ponder, can she accomplish what he achieved in such a short time?_"

Hearing Rin finishing her exercises and standing up, Sesshomaru broke out of his thoughts and looked his ward over. Warmly smiling, Rin chirped "I'm ready now Lord Sesshomaru."

"Hn."

Moving his hand to the hilt of Bakusaiga, Sesshomaru wordlessly drew the sword from it's sheath and brought it before his body. Rin instantly drew Aiko, bringing the sword before her body and readying herself for their session.

"Rin," Sesshomaru emotionlessly began, "this Sesshomaru will be attacking you at full force tonight."

A small gasp of surprise came from Rin's lips, but she remained focused. "I understand Lord Sesshomaru." she piped up while keeping her eyes on the Demon Lord.

Nodding lightly, Sesshomaru watched as his ward's body tensed up, seemingly ready to strike at him at any moment. "_Foolish Rin. You know better than to attack first._"

In a flash, the half wolf demon vanished. Looking to his right with his amber eyes, Sesshomaru caught sight of his ward rushing towards him with Aiko readied for an attack. Effortlessly, Sesshomaru raised his sword with one hand and parried the oncoming attack from Rin. The two blades met, sending out a shower of sparks.

Vanishing in a flash again, amber eyes quickly began tracking the half wolf demon's movements. A moment later, she reappeared beside of him, slamming her blade at him, only to have the dog demon counter once more with a one handed parry.

Again and again, the nimble half wolf demon vanished and slashed out at her Demon Lord, only to again and again have the dog demon parry each attack with a one handed move. Finally, the half wolf reappeared ten feet away from the dog demon, examining him for any weaknesses in his defense.

"_A lot of good that will do._" Rin mused. "_His defenses are impenetrable, and impossible for anyone to break through. I might as well be staring at a rock instead._"

"Not bad." Sesshomaru spoke, breaking Rin out of her concentration. "But not good enough."

Without warning, the dog demon vanished in a flash of his own. Aqua colored ovals scanned the area, with her wolf ears twitching, attempting to pick up any sound. Sniffing the air, she found no sign of his scent.

"_He's masking it. I can still feel his aura, which is good._" Rin murmured within her mind.

Finding the direction the attack was coming from, Rin turned quickly and raised Aiko with both hands on the hilt. A series of sparks filled the air as the blade of Bakusaiga slammed into Rin's sword, making the young half demon grunt out while keeping herself from being pushed away.

In an indifferent tone, Sesshomaru dryly said "Well done Rin. You stopped this Sesshomaru's attack. Now, stop this Sesshomaru."

With his words said, the dog demon vanished in a flash once more. Remaining calm, Rin swiveled her ears and sniffed the air. Finding no signs of her guardian, she quietly reached out with her other senses and picked up his demonic aura once more. Feeling it, she noted that he was whisking around their battle ground swiftly, so fast that her eyes could not keep up.

Reappearing beside of Rin, Sesshomaru swung Bakusaiga at her, only to hit thin air to his surprise. Turning about, the dog demon lord's sword was met by Aiko.

Grinding swords against one another, the pair vanished once more, with each reappearing across the battlefield with their swords clashing against one another. The two continued to do this for ten minutes, neither missing a beat with the other.

At long last, the two separated with fifteen feet between them. Neither were showing signs of tiring, with each seemingly still in peek condition.

Both instantly vanished in a flash, with both reappearing together with their swords clashing together once more. Again and again, both vanished with them reappearing with their swords clashing together.

This continued on for another twenty moments, till finally the pair separated and stood ten feet apart again. This time, Rin was lightly panting, but kept a calm expression on her face.

Staring at his ward, Sesshomaru ran his eyes over her body, assessing her defenses carefully. "_I have already underestimated her once tonight. A second time would shame this Sesshomaru._"

Once more, the pair vanished in a flash, with the two reappearing randomly in the clearing, each time with their swords clashing against one another. Over and over, the two clashed together, with the sound of metal clanging throughout the clearing repeatedly.

Another twenty minutes passed, and finally the pair reappeared with a little distance between the two. Rin was panting a bit heavier than before, but kept her aqua colored eyes focused on her opponent.

"_So fast... I think he's gotten even faster since the last time I fought him at full speed. But still, it's nothing I can't handle. I can still go a little faster._" Rin mumbled deep within her mind.

Before her, amber eyes stared at her form. Vanishing in a flash, Rin gasped in surprise, only to watch the dog demon reappear before her with his sword pointed straight at her face. In a thrusting motion, he sent the blade forward at her. Reacting quickly, Rin stepped to the side, only to have the blade nick her right cheek.

Rin was about to counter when suddenly Sesshomaru vanished once more, only to reappear behind her. She quickly glanced over her right shoulder and began to turn towards him, but gasped in surprise when he vanished. Taking a glance over her left shoulder, she saw that the dog demon has his sword out, ready to plunge it straight into her body.

With only a moment to spare, Rin quickly used Aiko and slammed it with her full strength into Bakusaiga, effectively parrying the attack aimed for her body. She struggled to push the sword downwards while Sesshomaru stared at her with an even look.

"What's the matter? You seem to be moving much slower, Rin." Sesshomaru dryly remarked.

Gritting her teeth, Rin pushed herself away from the dog demon and recollected herself while eyeing him warily. "_What's going on!? I should be faster than him still! I'll just have to try harder!_"

Calmly, she replied "Is that a fact? I can still block your sword. When you move, it's almost like you're still stationary."

With an emotionless face, Sesshomaru suddenly appeared before her and plunged his sword into her gut, making Rin gasp in complete shock as blood spattered to the ground at her feet. Weakly coughing, she pulled away, causing blood to spill out onto the ground.

"It's over for you, Rin." Sesshomaru calmly said.

Clutching Aiko tightly, Rin weakly replied "What did you say!?"

Stoically, Sesshomaru remarked "This Sesshomaru gathers that you think this Sesshomaru's movements became faster during this battle. That is not true. This Sesshomaru reached his limits much earlier in speed."

Processing the dog demon lord's words, Rin weakly asked "So, what you're saying is that what has actually changed here is I've gotten slower?"

"You have gone far beyond what many half demons can do, although there is a limit to what you can do as well. Rin, you have reached that limit."

Looking weakly at the dog demon lord, Rin watched as Sesshomaru prepared to attack once more. Eyes widening, the half wolf demon felt herself faltering.

"_Is this it? Will Lord Sesshomaru really kill me for being weak!?_" she pondered in her mind with fear running through her.

Suddenly, without warning, Rin felt her body pulsate. Sensing it, she felt the pulsation again. Aiko was seemingly pushing her to explore the pulsations. Hesitantly, Rin reached into her mind and body and found where the pulsations were coming from. It was from a power that she had not tapped into yet. Her body was willing her to reach for it, but she was hesitant to do so.

Realizing that Sesshomaru was still attacking, she timidly reached into the power that she felt and tapped into it. Without warning, her body pulsated even more, this time causing her light blue demonic aura to flare up.

Seeing this, Sesshomaru backed away and stared at his young ward. "_Finally, she seems to have tapped into the power that lies within her._"

Pulsating once more, Rin flinched and closed her eyes tightly as pain began spreading throughout her body. Her body emitted a blinding white light for a moment, forcing Sesshomaru to cover his face.

Within the light, Rin's clothes vanished, and black fur began covering her body from head to toe. Her feet slowly transformed into padded wolf paws, with her legs mostly resuming her mostly human shape. Her black tail swished lightly and was still free behind her. The clawed hands she once had transformed into paw like clawed hands, although she resumed mostly human like fingers. Her head was last to change, with her nose and jaw growing outwards and meeting one another. She grew several new sharp fangs, with her nose rounding and fitting on the tip of her muzzle. Her wolf ears twitched lightly and shifted slightly, but remained for the most part the same as before.

Opening her eyes at last, the light vanished. Her eyes no longer were aqua ovals, but were now golden in color. Lifting one clawed hand while the other held Aiko to her face, Rin examined it and took in the other features of her body.

Looking to the dog demon, Rin whimpered out "What happened to me Lord Sesshomaru?"

Eyeing her over, Sesshomaru calmly replied "You have transformed into a higher state than you previously were. Apparently, this may be what your full demon form."

"So, this is what we've been trying to achieve for me?" Rin timidly asked.

Nodding, Sesshomaru walked closer to Rin and placed his hands gently onto her shoulders. A small smile slipped past his emotionless mask, with him saying "Rin, I'm proud of you."

Gasping in shock, Rin stared wide eyed at the dog demon lord. After a moment of letting his words sink in, she grinned and said "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Can you reverse your transformation?" Sesshomaru asked, quickly slipping his unreadable mask back on.

Thinking for a moment, the transformed wolf demon calmed herself and looked within her body for the answer to the question. A moment later, her body glowed with a bright white light. The light died down quickly, revealing Rin's humanoid half demon form. Opening her closed eyes, she revealed that they were once more aqua ovals.

"Well done Rin." Sesshomaru remarked with a small prideful look. "It seems your wounds have healed also."

Looking down to where Sesshomaru had stabbed her earlier, Rin felt no open wound, causing her to reach up and touch her cheek as well. Finding no scratch, she softly smiled and sheathed Aiko.

Bowing deeply before the dog demon, Rin humbly said "Thank you for your help Lord Sesshomaru."

"Just remember Rin, your speed will not last over an hour. Be mindful of that." the dog demon calmly said.

Nodding in reply, the female half wolf demon reached forward and embraced the demon lord, surprising him. "Thank you once more, Lord Sesshomaru." she mumbled.

Releasing her hold, she backed away and cocked her head to the side, asking "Is our training done for the night?"

"Hn."

Bowing, Rin smiled warmly and said "I'm heading back to camp then. Coming Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Soon."

Slightly nodding, Rin turned and walked back towards the camp, leaving the dog demon lord to his thoughts.

--

Once the sun had sunk down below the sky, Kohaku had felt his body pulsate. Almost immediately, he felt his ability of fire slip away, leaving him as a normal human once more.

Glancing at her brother, Sango softly smiled and glanced up at the sky. "So, your human night is on other crescent moon. That's kind of cute."

"How so?" Kohaku curiously asked.

Smiling, she replied "Rin's is on the other crescent moon. It's sort of cute that the two of you share a similar moon shape."

Blushing lightly, Kohaku waved her off and slowly walked out towards the forest. Watching her brother walk away, Sango called out "Don't to go too far way Kohaku. You're human tonight, so you need to stick around."

"I'll be fine." Kohaku replied while continuing to walk on into the forest.

Sighing as her brother vanished into the forest, she glanced at Kirara on her shoulder and said "Please go follow him and make sure nothing happens to him tonight."

With a mew, the small neko demon leapt off of her master's shoulder and scampered off in the direction of the half fire demon turned human for the night.

--

Reaching a stream, Kohaku found a rock and sat down on top of it. He had been gone for an hour or two, giving him time to wander the woods. Watching the water go rolling by, he softly sighed.

"_It's so strange to be human again. I guess now I know how Inuyasha must have felt on his own human nights. It's so different, and at the same time so familiar. I can see why he hates reverting into his human form now, since you grow so accustomed to your demonic powers._"

Letting out another soft sigh, he laid back onto the rock and stared up at the sky. Seeing the sliver of the moon illuminating the sky, he lightly smiled.

"_It is kind of nice to know I share the same kind of moon as Rin for my human night._" he mumbled deep within his mind.

Closing his eyes, he remembered the days he had spent alone in the cave with the young half wolf demon. Instantly, he felt his cheeks heat up at the thoughts of the two of them actually being together, but quickly dismissed it.

Sitting up, he shook his head and let out a ragged sigh. "_I can't be with Rin. No, not after all that I've done. There is far too much blood on my hands to ever find someone that will love me for me._"

Lost deep in thought, Kohaku didn't hear the approaching footsteps behind him till suddenly, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Nearly jumping out of his skin, he quickly leapt forward and turned around as fast as he could while drawing his chain scythe.

"You sure are jumpy Kohaku." Rin sweetly remarked with a small smile.

Putting his weapon away, Kohaku let out a heavy sigh. "You scared me half to death Rin."

Apologetically, she replied "I'm sorry. When I got back to camp, I found you were gone and your sister mentioned you had left out earlier. I thought I'd come find you. I just kind of snuck up on you, I suppose."

"It's alright." he commented while returning to his rock. Rin sat down next to him and he casually said "I was lost in my own thoughts anyways. It's my fault for not paying any attention."

Silence enveloped the two for a few minutes. Rin finally uncomfortably shifted at the deafening silence. A moment later, the silence was broken by Kohaku, who asked "How is your arm and leg?"

"Oh, they're fine now." she cheerily replied. Averting her eyes for a moment, she quietly said "Thank you for your help in carrying me."

Staring at the water still, Kohaku mumbled back "It was no problem. You're welcome."

Once more, silence filled the air. "Why did you come out here Rin?" Kohaku asked, breaking the silence instantly.

Pursing her lips for a few moments, Rin finally replied "I guess I came because you sat with me on my human night. You were kind enough to take care of me that whole night, and never left me. I know how it feels to lose your demonic powers, and that it can feel kind of lonely. I didn't want you to have to suffer through that alone, so I came to find you."

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I know it must be hard for you to be around me, after all I did." he lightly remarked.

Turning to look at the brown haired human, Rin shook her head and softly smiled. "No, you're wrong Kohaku. I have no trouble being around you."

"In fact, being around you makes me feel more at ease." Rin added with a touch of blush on her cheeks. "It's like, when I'm with you, I feel like nothing can trouble me. I've felt like that since I met you, even when you tried to hurt me."

Looking up to see the sincerity in Rin's aqua eyes, Kohaku forced himself to look away from her. "I don't deserve that." he weakly mumbled. "After all I did to you and everyone, I deserve no such kindness."

"You're wrong." Rin argued back while placing a hand onto his shoulder. "What happened to you wasn't right. Naraku manipulated you and used you as a tool to do his bidding. It was never your choice to do as he commanded."

Still looking away, he lowly said "But I chose to forget what I should never have forgotten. I asked for Naraku to release me from my memories of me killing my family and friends. In doing so, I had no choice but to repay him with my body and soul. That's why I deserve no such kindness. I willingly accepted my lot."

"But you regret all those things!" Rin fiercely replied. "That shows me that you never wanted to harm anyone!"

Surprising Kohaku, Rin pulled him into a warm embrace. In a soft, gentle tone, she added "That's why I can never dislike you, Kohaku. You know you were wrong, and regret it, thus I like you. Nothing Naraku made you do matters to me."

Releasing his tension, Kohaku melted into the warm embrace, feeling kindness washing over him. Moving his hand so that it clasped Rin's small hand, he held it softly and whispered back "Thank you Rin."

--

Staring up at the stars, Tsunade sadly sighed. In her hand, she held a small necklace that had a green cut crystal. She was mindlessly fingering the rough texture of the crystal, seemingly lost in another world.

Without warning, a pair of hands slapped over the blonde haired mages eyes. A hearty laugh, a voice said "Guess who!"

Clenching her empty hand tightly, she lowly growled out "Jiraiya, if you don't take your hands off of my face, so help me, I'll break both of them."

The white haired mage's hands quickly were removed from the female dog demon's face and moved far away from her. With a light chuckle, Jiraiya took a seat beside of the blonde haired dog demon.

"So, why you out here alone?" he asked nonchalantly.

Quickly placing the necklace back into her robes, she muttered "No reason. I just wanted some fresh air. After all, being so close to Orochimaru and Ichimaru sucks rather badly due to their stench."

"That's not the real reason you came out here." Jiraiya commented while glancing at her. "I've known you for so many years Tsunade, and you can't fool me. When you go off alone and I find you fingering that necklace, it means you're thinking of your former mate and of your apprentice."

Casting a fierce glare at the white haired dog demon, Tsunade snarled "Leave me alone Jiraiya!"

"I would, but what kind of friend would I be if I left you here to suffer with your own thoughts." Jiraiya quietly remarked. Sighing, he crossed his arms and softly said "I know you miss both of them."

Anger slowly slid away from the female dog demon's face. In a quiet voice, she mumbled "I miss them so much Jiraiya. I was just up here, pondering if all that we're doing is worth it or not, or if they would even approve of what I'm doing."

Pausing for a moment, she slightly sniffled as a few tears slid from her eyes. "My handsome mate, Don, he died only a few months prior to me joining The Thirteen. He died because I wasn't strong enough of a healer at the time to bring him back. If not for him dying and me wishing to become a better healer, I don't know if I'd have joined."

More tears slid down her cheeks as she weakly said "And then, I took on my apprentice, Sakura. She reminded me so much of myself when I was younger, so full of hope and life. I took her on as an apprentice, hoping to help her grow strong enough that she would never have to suffer a fate like I did of losing a mate. But it was all for not, for in the end, she met a cruel end."

"Tsunade…" Jiraiya mumbled. Reaching out with his left arm, the white haired mage pulled the crying dog demon to his shoulder, allowing her to cry into it.

"It's just unfair Jiraiya." Tsunade miserably muttered into his shoulder. "She shouldn't have died. I should have prepared her better, or went myself. Sakura shouldn't have had to die for my mistakes. And maybe if I had been stronger, Don wouldn't have died."

Embracing his friend, Jiraiya softly cooed to Tsunade, saying "It's not your fault for their deaths Tsunade. Sakura knew the risks and went ahead with her task. As for Don, no one could have guessed that he would die like he did. It's not your fault for not knowing your powers needed to be better developed to heal him at the time. You did nothing wrong."

"But I let them both die." she whimpered. "And for what!? Sakura shouldn't have died just because Byakuya thinks that half breed isn't worth our time. Because of him, she was sent out to fight an opponent that has unknown strength. He's killed six of our group thus far, and it won't end till all of us are dead."

"I would die before I'd let him kill you." Jiraiya firmly stated, earning him a gasp from Tsunade as she stared at his coal black eyes. "Believe me when I swear that I would never allow any harm to come to you Tsunade. You and I, we've been together since we were born. I won't allow any harm to come to you, I swear it."

Wiping away her tears, he kissed her forehead and said "I hate to see you cry. You're like a sister to me, so don't think that for a moment I don't care about you. You're the one person I trust fully within our group, so don't doubt my confession that I'll always protect you. Stay strong."

Letting out a small sigh, Tsunade laid her head down onto Jiraiya's shoulder once more and breathed in his scent. Meekly, she said "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." Jiraiya remarked. "And don't worry, no matter what path you choose, I will always be by your side. You're my closest friend, and I won't let you walk any path alone."

Relaxing, Tsunade's eyes grew heavy and she felt her body succumbing to sleep. In a low whisper, she murmured "You're the best."

Softly smiling down at the sleeping figure on his shoulder, Jiraiya calmly replied "And so are you."


	40. Chapter 40: Memories and Invites

**Greetings all! I know, that was a new kind of opening, lol. Anyways, my weekend was pretty cool. I saw my sister and her boyfriend at my grandparents, and we all had a good time. Also, this week, my dad, step mom, and step brother are all on vacation, so things are a little quieter than normal. I must go out though and take care of the horses and dogs at their house, but the horses normally stay on the hill all day, and the dogs can survive till evening when I go out to see them. Ah yes, I also learned yesterday evening that painting a roof during the early evening sucks and is extremely hot. I painted my grandfather's (dad's side, not mom's) roof last night on a really long ladder, which let me tell you, wasn't all that much fun. I have a bit of a fear of heights to begin with, so that combined with brushing aluminum paint doesn't go over well, hehe. Anyways, I got it done in 2 and ½ hours, but my t-shirt was soaked, along with the top of my pants where they come up over my butt. I was ever so happy to get out of those clothes obviously, hehe. Lol, my poor mate, she had to work till 2 am last night, which truly sucked. Hilariously, I stayed up and waited on her, but I'm paying the price for it today. Heh, actually, I haven't slept well all week. Sunday night, I stayed up talking to Mitsukai till 2:30 am, then Monday night, I stayed up till 1:30 or so in the morning. Last night, we didn't fall asleep till at least 3 am, lol. Needless to say, I'm a bit sleepy, but oh well, I have no one to blame but myself. I'll just suffer, I suppose. As if I had a choice, lol.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten pretty heavily involved in writing some chapters for this story this week. I'm hoping to get a lot of it done before the end of the week. That way I'll still be good for this story, and then I'll return to writing on my other story. It's just hard to split my time between two stories, lol.**

**Moving along, it's review time!**

**reanabff, aka Lady Salmakia: Heh, I'm glad that you're happy about waiting for this chapter. After today, next week on Monday and Friday, I post again. Then the week after that I do a Wednesday post. I just run a cycle between the two, that way I can write more stuff, but also have a cushion in case I hit writers block. Thanks for the review, and I'll get back to your PMs soon enough. Thanks again!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, you never know. One of them could betray the group, but then again, you never know. It could be someone you didn't expect instead of the one that is thinking about stuff. Heh, they could be screwed from within, but again, we'll see about that one. Yes, Rin is finally kicking ass at long last. She's seemingly developed into a powerful fighter, one capable of somewhat competing with Sesshomaru seemingly. LOL! Hmm, should I say it or not about Ed or Al. Ah, what the hell. They could be evil, and you know it. I mean, just the outfits they wear says possibly evil. Believe me, they could be evil and make it look good, lol. Alright, I think I'm done on poking at you with Ed and Al going evil and all. I'm sure you're horrified as always and I'll hear about it soon enough, lol. Heh, I know the feeling about needing a nap. I need a major one, but for now, I'll just suck down some Amp. Better than a nap! Thanks for the review!**

**Kattana: Possibly there could be a betrayer within the mages, but you never know. Yes, Rin got trained by Sesshomaru, so she's learned from the best of the best, meaning she should be a pretty good match for anyone. True, he would be an excellent teacher to everyone, but he seems to have only taken an interest in teaching Rin how to protect herself, not the others, lol. Besides, he's not too well known to willingly help others unless it benefits himself. But yes, he doesn't like certain people, so he apparently isn't going to help them, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it on the reviews for today. (/Rubs sleep out of eyes.\) I need more Amp… (/Drinks more.\) Ah, that's a little better. (/Slumps forward and passes out on keyboard.\) Lol, just kidding of course. I'm not that tired, yet. I feel it, but it's not too bad. I'll sleep tonight, that's for sure, hehe. But at any rate, thank you all three for your reviews. I truly appreciate all three of your constant reviews. I just thought I'd say that. If possible, I'll try and release more chapters at a faster rate, but like always, I have the same problem, which is just getting stuff wrote, lol. But I will make an attempt.**

**Anyways, thank you all, and I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 40**

Landing onto the ground gracefully with the sun setting, a large black dog with five passengers bent his large frame down so that he laid on the ground. Carefully, Lilly, Orihime, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Ichigo all slid off of his back and onto the ground.

Moving to the front of the black dog, Ichigo shoved a bundle of clothing at it. Taking it in his teeth, the large black dog padded away towards some nearby trees. With the trees finally obscuring him, the dog glowed with a bright light white. A few moments later, Iya's humanoid form took shape once more.

Once dressed, Iya returned to the group to find only Lilly and Orihime setting up camp. Taking a seat near the fire on a log that Orihime had dragged in, he let out a small sigh.

"Are you alright?" Lilly worriedly asked from behind him.

Throwing her a small smile over his shoulder, Iya calmly replied "Yes, I'm fine. It's just I'm not used to staying in my dog form for very long. Not to mention, it's tiring to fly for a day. At least we've made up some time by me doing that."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Iya mentally said "_I shaved two days off our trip by flying us this far today. We should be a little over halfway there now. Still, to make it, we're going to have to keep moving. It'll take us a day or so to locate those two probably, so the faster we get there, the better._"

"Iya, are you sure you're alright?" Lilly asked with a concerned voice, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Noting she had moved beside of him on the log, Iya softly smiled and replied "I'm sure Lilly. Don't worry so much about me. It'll take more than my transformation into my dog state to wear me completely out."

"I just wanted to make sure. It's unlike you to seem tired, so I thought I'd check." she wistfully remarked.

He was about to reply when he heard the sound of Inuyasha arriving back at camp with Kagome. The pair had fish on sticks, seemingly ready to set in the fire.

Watching the pair arrive, Iya saw them place the fish near the fire and allowed the flames to begin searing at them. The mates then took a seat across the fire together, with Inuyasha wrapping his arms around Kagome and pulling her into his lap.

"How you feeling Iya?" Kagome questioned with inquisitive eyes.

Allowing a small smile to cross his face, Iya replied "I'm fine."

"That's good. We weren't sure if you were alright after carrying all of us and staying transformed all day." she kindly remarked.

Silence fell upon the group for a few moments till Inuyasha released Kagome from his embrace and stood. He began to walk away and glanced over his shoulder at Iya. "Iya, come with me." he gruffly said.

Puzzled by his brother's request, Iya stood, surprising the group a bit. Wordlessly, Iya followed Inuyasha, with the pair leaving the camp.

After walking far enough away to where no one could hear them back at camp, Iya watched his brother come to a stop. Staring at his back, he watched Inuyasha leap into a nearby tree. Taking the hint he wanted him up there too, Iya leapt up onto a branch that was only a few feet higher.

"So, what did you wish to see me about, brother?" Iya calmly asked.

Remaining quiet and seemingly thoughtful for a few more moments, Inuyasha slowly said "Iya, I was with Kagome earlier today and began to ponder on something. Did our father really love my mother?"

A little shocked at the question, Iya looked his brother over and saw that his eyes looked as if he was troubled. Letting a small smile cross his face, Iya looked up to the peeking night sky and quietly replied "Yes, he loved her very much. Why do you ask?"

"I just got to thinking about it." Inuyasha mumbled. "While she was still alive, I noted how she seemed to be faking happiness. I remember how she would look at me sometimes, and I could see pain behind her eyes. I was just a kid, but I saw it. At the time, it didn't make sense, but now that I'm older, it does. I'm just curious if they did love one another."

"They did."

Getting a glance from his brother, Iya leaned back against the tree and softly smiled at the last bit of light fading from the sky. "Let me tell you of the time I first met your mother, and I think you'll understand then how much they did truly love one another."

Seeing Inuyasha relax against the tree himself, Iya closed his eyes. "I had just turned forty-nine years old. As I told you before, the patrols of the Western Lands were split up between father, Sesshomaru, and myself. Normally, we all returned home at the same time, so we would converse, or at least I would with father. On one of these trips during the early summer, father told us both that he was courting someone, and had been for a few months."

Smiling a bit, Iya continued on, saying "I pestered him to find out who, but he refused to reveal the woman. He simply said that after our next patrol, he would bring her to the Western Stronghold and introduce both Sesshomaru and I to her. We agreed, and went on our patrols like always. When we returned, we knew we'd meet the woman father was courting."

--

Waiting in the main hall, Iya impatiently paced back and forth. "Why are father and his intended taking so long?" he grunted out indignantly.

"Little brother, cease your pacing, or this Sesshomaru will end it by breaking off your legs." Sesshomaru coldly stated.

Throwing a glare at Sesshomaru, Iya stopped pacing and sniffed the air. Finding his father's scent and a female one growing stronger, he smirked and said "About time they showed up."

Looking up towards the doorway, Iya saw his father walk in. Smiling at both Iya and Sesshomaru, Inutaisho calmly said "Iya, Sesshomaru, I wish for you to meet the woman I am courting currently. Please do show her respect."

"Of course father." Iya remarked, while Sesshomaru only grunted.

Another smile flashed across Inutaisho's face as he said "I would like to introduce Lady Izayoi Minamoto, Princess of the Minamoto Clan."

With his words spoken, Inutaisho stepped aside from the doorframe, revealing a young human woman with black hair that reached her butt in length, creamy pale skin, painted red lips, and soft brown eyes. Her clothing consisted of a blue inner kimono that draped low to the ground with a pink outer one that had cherry blossoms embroidered into it's sleeves and shoulders.

Looking at the pair of brothers, she humbly bowed deeply, saying "It is a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Lady Izayoi, I would like to introduce my two sons, Sesshomaru and Iya." Inutaisho spoke up, giving the brothers an expecting look.

Staring at the young woman, Iya couldn't help but gasp at the sight of her beauty. He quickly snapped out of his stupor and bowed to her respectfully.

A snort sounded with the sound of rustling clothing beside of Iya, making him take a glance over at Sesshomaru. The older dog demon held nothing but contempt in his eyes for the young woman that stood beside of their father.

"Sesshomaru, you will show proper respect to my intended." Inutaisho declared firmly.

Staring at his father with cold amber eyes, Sesshomaru darkly said "This Sesshomaru will not bow to a lowly human wench."

Izayoi physically flinched at Sesshomaru's words, but remained at Inutaisho's side still. Infuriated, Inutaisho ground out "You will show respect Sesshomaru, that is an order!"

Turning and walking away, Sesshomaru dryly remarked "Your orders mean nothing to this Sesshomaru."

With that said, the stoic dog demon walked off, leaving a fuming Inutaisho and slightly shocked Izayoi behind. Watching his brother's retreating form, Iya sighed and turned away, chasing after his brother.

Seeing his two sons leaving, Inutaisho clenched both clawed hands tightly and mumbled "I apologize for the way my sons just acted Izayoi."

"No, it's alright." she lightly murmured back.

Heavily sighing, Inutaisho thoughtfully said "I knew Sesshomaru might act that way, but Iya has no excuse…"

"No, it's alright." Izayoi cut off. With a light sigh, she added "I'd like to go sit by the pond, if you don't mind."

"Of course, that is no problem." Inutaisho remarked.

"Alone."

Showing a touch of hurt in his eyes, Inutaisho heavily sighed and nodded. "Very well, Izayoi. I shall take you, so that you are not disturbed."

In a low whisper, she replied "Thank you."

--

Sitting on the bank of the pond, Izayoi had her head resting on her knees while she lightly sighed. She had been sitting by the pond for a few hours, watching the fish swimming within it while her mind was in turmoil over the meeting with her intended's sons.

"I should have guessed neither would like me." she miserably muttered while burying her face into her knees and allowed a few stray tears to trickle out. "After all, I'm not a demon, just a mere human."

Hearing a rustling sound nearing, she quickly wiped her tears away and lowered her knees to reveal her face. Glancing in the direction of the rustling, she gasped when she saw Iya with his hair unbound walking towards her. Instantly, she stood just as he came to before her.

Bowing lightly, Iya curtly said "Lady Izayoi."

Returning the bow, she formally replied "Lord Iya."

Feeling a bit uneasy, she quietly said "I'll leave."

Just as she was about to pass Iya, she felt a clawed hand reach out and take hold of her own, making her gasp and turn towards the half demon. "Actually, Lady Izayoi, I wished to talk with you."

"With me?" she questioned with uncertainty in her voice.

Nodding lightly, Iya motioned towards where she had been sitting. "If you would, I'd like to still talk with you, if you'll hear me out that is."

Curious to Iya's intentions, Izayoi returned to where she had been sitting. The half demon dropped to the ground and sat next to her, looking out at the pond like she had for the last few hours. Silence enveloped the two for a few moments before he finally spoke up.

"I wish to apologize for my actions earlier."

Quickly turning to look at him, Izayoi saw he was looking down at the ground. After a moment, he continued on, saying "I'm truly sorry that I upset you."

Unsure of what to say, she looked down at the ground herself and sadly smiled. "You could smell my tears, couldn't you?" she questioned.

"Yes, I can." Iya wistfully replied with a small smile of his own. Glancing at her, he slowly said "I shouldn't have left earlier, but I didn't wish to let Sesshomaru out of my sights."

Letting out a small ragged sigh, he glanced up at the sky and quietly said "You see, there is something you should know about Sesshomaru. I'm sure father never told you, but about four years ago, Sesshomaru was set to mate with a young human woman known as Kaoru. They were deeply in love and had been courting for two years. Sadly, on the day of the mating, a tragedy happened, and in the end, Kaoru was killed."

A small strangled gasp came out of Izayoi as she held her hand over her mouth. She began to say something when Iya continued on. "Kaoru's death deeply affected Sesshomaru. He had loved her dearly and wished to spend his entire life with her, but her death changed him completely. He abandoned his heart that day. With her death, he came to despise all humans. To be truthful, he has no love for hanyous like me either due that they're part human also."

Removing his gaze from the sky to turn and look at Izayoi, he sadly smiled and said "I left earlier due that I feared for what he may do. Neither Sesshomaru nor myself knew that father was courting a human. Since Sesshomaru hates humans so badly, I was afraid of what my brother may do to you if given an opportunity. Hence, I left earlier to watch him and make sure no harm came to you."

Silence filled the air for a few moments till Izayoi slowly said "I see. You were worried he may harm me?"

"Yes." Iya simply replied. "I don't wish for Sesshomaru to harm you, so I followed him and made sure he was going to stay clear of you. Once I was certain he was leaving the area, I returned to the Stronghold and so I could seek you out."

Looking back at the pond, Iya apologetically said "I'm truly sorry if you thought that I left because of you. I meant no disrespect, but again, I was concerned what my brother may do if he found you alone."

Studying Iya's facial features, Izayoi softly smiled and warmly said "Thank you."

Glancing up at her in a bit of shock, Iya saw the sincerity shinning in her brown eyes. A small smile crossed his own face when he replied "Think nothing of it."

Sitting beside one another, a small silence enveloped the two once more. After a moment, Izayoi bit her lip and slowly decided to venture a question. "Lord Iya…"

"You don't have to be formal with me, if you don't wish to Lady Izayoi." Iya commented while slyly grinning at her.

Weakly smiling back at him, she softly said "Very well, Iya. I wish to ask you something, but I don't wish to be too bold about it."

"Feel free to ask me anything you would like to Izayoi." Iya remarked. "My life has no real secrets."

Pausing for a moment, Izayoi carefully pieced together her question and finally slowly said "Your father, Inutaisho, said he has only taken one mate. He has two sons though, not of the same mother. I was curious, did he lie when he said you are his son?"

Softly chuckling, Iya glanced up at the sky and replied "He didn't lie. I am truly my father's son, although apparently I inherited more of my mother's attributes."

"But he has only taken one mate…" Izayoi began, only to be hushed by Iya saying "Yes, father has in all truth taken only one mate."

Letting out a heavy sigh, he sadly smiled at her and said "My father and mother, they didn't mate. They only shared one night together, but from that night, I was produced. When my father found out my mother carried me, he made it known he would provide for both of us. Father cared for my mother, but unfortunately, he didn't wish to mate with her and have a loveless relationship. The two of them were extremely good friends, but he held no love for her as a mate. My mother apparently accepted that plight because she loved my father."

Looking at the ground with sad eyes, he quietly said "Sadly, my mother died in childbirth. I was born on the night that was her human night. Because of that, her body couldn't heal as well, thus she died, but I lived on."

"I'm so very sorry to have intruded…"

Sadly smiling at Izayoi, Iya shook his head and placed a gentle clawed hand onto her shoulder. "No, it's alright. It is just the way things are. I have no problems with it."

"Still, I'm so very sorry." Izayoi apologetically said with a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry about it." Iya commented back. With a sad smile, he turned to glance up at the sky once more and added "I sometimes wonder what she was like. I often wonder if she was similar to how I am, what her scent smelt like, and what it was like to just be in her presence. I guess most of all, I wonder if she'd be proud of what I've become."

Hearing Izayoi stand, Iya stayed perfectly still till suddenly he felt her embrace him from behind and lean her head onto his shoulder. Softly, she said "I'm certain your mother would be very proud of what you have become, Iya. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't."

Relaxing into her embrace a bit, Iya closed his eyes and took in Izayoi's scent, making sure to keep it deep within his mind in case he ever needed to find her. Reopening his eyes, he placed a clawed hand on her hand that held his shoulder, softly saying "Thank you."

Releasing her embrace, Izayoi sat back down at his side. Kindly, she said "I know I could never replace your mother, but Iya, know that whatever happens, you can talk with me."

Smiling once more, Iya nodded and slowly said "I thank you for that Izayoi. If you don't mind, I have a question for you."

"Yes, go ahead and ask me."

"Do you love my father?"

Gasping at the question, Izayoi folded her hands into her lap and stared at them. After a long moment, she looked up at him and firmly said "Yes, I love Inutaisho with all of my heart and soul."

Nodding in reply, Iya smiled and glanced out at the pond. "Thank you for telling me. I knew already by the look in your eyes when I first met you, but I wanted to make certain that you did. I saw the looks you and father gave one another, but I just needed to be sure."

Standing up, Iya offered his hand to Izayoi, who took it. Carefully, he hauled her up off of the ground and smiled. "Thank you for hearing me out Izayoi."

"You are most welcome Iya. I thank you as well for being willing to come talk with me, and for thinking of me."

"Think nothing of it." he waved off. "I wish you and father nothing but happiness and love together. I think that is mostly why father brought you here today, to gain mine and Sesshomaru's blessing."

Sighing, he added "Unfortunately, Sesshomaru will never accept you, but don't worry. I think father was pending on my opinion more than my brother's."

"But no matter that. Just know that I accept you for who you are, Izayoi. I look forward to you becoming father's mate."

Smiling weakly at Iya with tears shimmering in her eyes, she leapt forward and embraced him, making the half demon blush slightly. Buried in his shoulder, she whispered "Thank you."

--

"A month after that, father and Lady Izayoi mated." Iya commented to a bit of a surprised Inuyasha. "About a month or two after that, Lady Izayoi was discovered pregnant with you."

Nodding slightly, Inuyasha mumbled "So father did care about my mother."

"Very much so." Iya quickly said. "He loved her deeply Inuyasha. That was very easy to see in his presence. And the same was said in Lady Izayoi's presence. They were deeply in love with one another, and no one could deny that."

Sighing slightly, he added "Unfortunately, due to things going on in the Western Lands, Lady Izayoi never got to live within the Western Stronghold."

"Why not?" Inuyasha questioned with a scowl.

"Not long before father and Lady Izayoi mated, the Lord of the South died and was succeeded by his son, Aikamaru." Iya calmly remarked. "Within a week or two of taking his father's throne, Aikamaru brought up land claims that the Southern Lands had against the Western Lands."

Lightly chuckling, Iya said "Father dismissed them, saying they were unimportant and had been for centuries. After all, the former Lord of the South had let the claims go for many years, so father saw no need to even think they were now. But Aikamaru had a different opinion.

"He threatened the Western Lands with war, declaring he would receive what was rightfully the Southern Lands. Father took the threat a bit serious, especially since he knew Aikamaru knew that he had recently mated. For that reason, he sent Lady Izayoi to live in the safety of her home village. It was to the northern part of the Western Lands, neighboring the Northern Lands."

"Why was it any safer?" Inuyasha grunted out with his arms folded.

"Because the Northern and Western Lands have long been allies for many centuries, thus father knew she was safer towards the north." Iya explained. "If not for the fact that the Western Stronghold is closer to the center of the Western Lands, he'd have brought her there."

Pausing for a moment, Iya finally continued on, saying "Aikamaru continued to threaten the West with war, but he was in no position to do so. For all his bragging and boasting of the South's strength was nothing more than it sounded like it was. You see, Aikamaru was in no position to fight the Western Lands."

"How come?" Inuyasha asked while looking a touch bored.

"Because of the opposition facing him." Iya flatly remarked. "The Western Lands has for many years been guarded by the Taisho Clan, with one being it's rulers for countless centuries. Due to that reason, there was no real army, but the Lord of the West could always call up for volunteers if necessary. Besides that, the West had a powerful ally in the form of the Northern Lands. The Wolf Tribes have ruled the North for almost as long as the Dog Demons have ruled the West, and long ago, a pact was made between the West and the North, that if one or the other was in trouble, the other would help."

Smirking, Iya added "And then there were the opportunistic Eastern Lands. The South had hopes of coaxing the East into joining them, but father squashed those plans quickly and effectively. He offered the East a deal that they could not refuse."

"What?"

With a small smirk, Iya replied "He offered them all of the trading that the Western Lands did with the Southern Lands to the East if they remained neutral and did not aide the South at all. The Lord of the East, Yomi, greedily accepted the bribe and signed a treaty with father. That left Aikamaru and the Southern Lands in a position where they had no allies, no aide, and limited options."

"Still, Aikamaru didn't back down on his land claims against the West. He continued to press father over them. Father finally had had enough and flatly told the young Lord of the South that if he wished to go to war, he should attack. After that, Aikamaru backed down and stopped bothering father about his land claims on the West's border."

Heavily frowning, Iya stared down at his hands and mumbled "But things turned bad not long after that. The dragon, Ryuukossei, who had always dwelled within the Southern Lands near the border of the Western Lands, suddenly began attacking the West's border villages. Every time anyone responded, the dragon was gone once more. He was just randomly attacking, dealing a bit of damage and leaving."

"It sounds like the Lord of the South was up to no good." Inuyasha grunted out.

Still looking at his hands, Iya replied "We weren't sure. Father confronted Aikamaru on this, demanding to know if the dragon was under his command. Aikamaru naturally denied it, saying he had no part in the attacks and that the dragon was attacking of it's own accord. Father asked him to talk with Ryuukossei and attempt to calm the dragon, but Aikamaru refused, saying the dragon was doing him no harm, so why should he help the West. Infuriated by the Lord of the South's behavior, father decided that if the dragon attacked, whoever found it was to fetch him immediately. He would personally deal with the dragon."

"Not long after that, the mages attacked." Iya lowly muttered. "And at the same time, Ryuukossei returned again. When father came across me, I informed him of the development and he went off to fight the dragon while I pursued the mages."

Casting a glance at his younger brother, Iya remarked "The rest is pretty much known to you I believe. Father fought Ryuukossei, only to seal the dragon in a deep sleep with one of his fangs. He quickly went to Lady Izayoi's family home not long after that due that a servant informed him that she was in labor with you. He only arrived to find her dead and you born. He revived Lady Izayoi with Tenseiga and helped her escape while he fought to the death with Takemaru of Setsuna."

Silence filled the air for a few moments before Inuyasha finally said "Thank you Iya, for telling me about my mother and father."

"Think nothing of it." Iya commented softly. "You deserved to know. If you ever want to know anything about either and I know about it, feel free to ask me and I will answer."

Nodding in reply to Iya, Inuyasha glanced up at the night sky and said "I guess we'd better get back. I'm sure the others are wondering what we're up to or if something is wrong."

"Yeah." Iya simply remarked and leapt out of the tree. Upon landing on the ground, he glanced up and saw his brother leap out as well, landing next to him.

Patting Inuyasha on the shoulder, Iya smiled at his younger brother and said "I'm sure father is very proud of what you've accomplished Inuyasha. Both him and your mother I'm sure are."

Smirking, Inuyasha smugly remarked "Yeah, whatever. Let's go back."

--

Swiftly moving along, Sesshomaru led his group onwards towards the farthest border of the Eastern and Southern Lands. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Rin and Kohaku were behind him, with Sango and Miroku behind the pair. On Sango's shoulder was Kirara while Shippou rode on Miroku's. Beside of Sesshomaru was Ryo, who was quiet for once.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" a voice cried out, making the group slow down and stop.

Glancing up in the sky, Sesshomaru saw who the voice belonged to. Approaching the group above them on an oar was a woman with long light blue hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, with exception of a set of bangs hanging off the side of her head. She was wearing a pink kimono with long sleeves, a white obi sash, and a pair of socks with red sandals.

Landing on the ground before the group, she dropped to her feet and let out a heavy breath. Looking straight at the group, she revealed her light violet eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru, at long last, I managed to catch up with you." the young woman breathlessly said.

Raising an elegant eyebrow, Sesshomaru asked "Botan, servant of Lord Aikamaru of the Southern Lands, was it not?"

Smiling brightly, Botan nodded and bowed humbly, saying "Yes, it is Lord Sesshomaru."

Straightening back up, she warmly smiled once more and said "I'm rather surprised you remember me after all these years Lord Sesshomaru. The last time I saw you was over one hundred years ago, when you came to the Southern Keep."

"What do you want Botan." Sesshomaru dryly stated.

Nodding, she apologetically smiled and said "My apologies. I forgot, you prefer to get right to business."

Pausing for a moment, Botan cleared her throat and said "Lord Aikamaru has formally invited you to the Southern Keep, to talk with you about why you are in the Southern Lands. He is certain you are chasing after the ones known as The Thirteen, but he wishes to make sure."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Sesshomaru turned away from the blue headed woman and retorted "This Sesshomaru has no time to pay the Southern Lord a visit. This Sesshomaru declines."

"What?" Botan asked in shock. "But Lord Sesshomaru, please, it is very important that you meet with my Master. He has declared that he wishes to speak with you, and that I was to bring you back with me."

Standing still, Sesshomaru began to walk away, only to have Botan cry out "Please Lord Sesshomaru!"

Coming to a stop, Sesshomaru coldly remarked "This Sesshomaru will not meet with the Lord of the South."

Beginning to walk away, Botan ran up to in front of Sesshomaru and fell onto her hands and knees in a deep bow. "Please Lord Sesshomaru, I beseech thee! My Master told me to bring you with me, no matter what. He wishes to speak with you immediately!"

Looking up at him with tears in the corners of her eyes, she weakly said "I'm begging you, please Lord Sesshomaru, come to see Lord Aikamaru."

Studying Botan's face for a moment, Sesshomaru stiffly replied "This Sesshomaru has given his answer. Tell your master that this Sesshomaru will meet with him another time."

With his words said, Sesshomaru stepped around a sobbing Botan and silently continued on his way while the others glanced at his back.

Wiping her tears away, Botan stood and began to run after dog demon, only to have a green energy whip strike the ground before her, making her pull back a bit. Looking wide eyed at the dog demon, she saw that it was his whip that had been flicked at her.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" she meekly began, only to be cut off by Sesshomaru's cold voice.

"You will refrain from coming after this Sesshomaru. This Sesshomaru spares your life for now, but make no mistake, there will be no more."

Staring at the backside of the dog demon lord, Botan watched helplessly while the dog demon casually walked away. Looking down at her lap, fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

Casting glances at the sobbing young woman, the remainder of the group slowly began falling in line behind the dog demon, seemingly not wanting to be left behind.

Raising her eyes to look at the majestic dog demon's back once more, Botan miserably muttered "Lord Aikamaru will be most disappointed…"


	41. Chapter 41: Unwelcomed Discovery

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend was fun. My mom came in from Richmond, VA, which was cool and all, and my sister and her boyfriend came down too to my grandparents. We had a good time, which was great. In two weeks, my mate and I head to Myrtle Beach, SC, which I'm getting excited about. I can't wait to relax a bit and just take in the sights and sounds of the beach once more. We may go visit some places there that I haven't been to since I was a kid. That would be nice to go to the pier where I remember some really good times. Other than that, life is normal, so yay!**

**Writing wise, I've been getting a good bit done on this story, although it seems like I never get anything done on it, lol. I'll probably pick it up a notch this week, with any luck, on writing on it.**

**Alright, time for reviews!**

**Lady S: Glad you liked the chapter. I guess I'll begin calling you Lady S. I only did both so everyone knew who I was talking about, lol. Glad you think the story is progressing along rather well. Things will be getting interesting over time, so no worries there. Lol, I know, it is kind of disappointing when a story doesn't update often, but I try my best to put out updates weekly. I'm glad you're loving the story. Thanks for the review!**

**Edward and Alfonse Elric: IMPOSTERS! Alfonse's name is spelled with a ph, not f!! Bug off shrimpy, and take finger boy away with you. (/Hears Ed cursing about being called short and points and laughs.\)**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, I'm sure you'd like to say something nice to me, especially after the brothers just left. I think I heard the pair mumbling something about going and finding a slave and doing evil stuff. Yes, it was your fault for me staying up late. It has to be, lol. Moving along, glad you liked the informative chapter, but yeah, I know, the action has been lacking as of late. It's coming, so don't worry. I kind of threw the flashbacks in more or less to fill in some of the elusive past that Iya and Ichigo has, and to better explain what has happened with them. Heh, we'll get to the mages before you know it. True, they haven't been seen for a while, but they'll show up. Lol, the mages will show up and there will be blood, maybe, so remain patient. As my great hero Yoda always says, "PATIENCE!" Lol, thanks for the review like always.**

**kattana: Heh, thanks for the compliment on my writing. Glad you liked how I wrote up Inutaisho and Izayoi. I tried to show that they did really care about one another, and that Iya was there and liked Izayoi. It's kind of left up in the air about what things were like between the happy couple in the manga and anime, so I tried to fill in the gaps with something decent. Heh, yeah, it's nice to see that Inuyasha has a brother he can trust that won't kill him for his sword, lol. I'm sure Sesshomaru will one day come around, maybe, hehe. True, Sesshomaru should realize that all humans aren't bad, but I'm sure that's starting to get through to him now that he has Rin. I think she's a step in the right direction, so time will tell. You never know, his heart may melt and he'll let the coldness slip, but time will tell, that's for sure. Thank you for your review!**

**Well, that's all once more. Thank you, all three of you, for your continuous support and reviews. They mean a great deal to me. Also, thank you to the person who added me to their fav stories. That means a lot to me as well, and don't be shy, feel free to review or PM me. Either one works for me.**

**At any rate, I need to run, so take care all. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 41**

Glancing up at the morning sky, Iya sniffed the air, picking up the scent of the morning dew strongly in the air. Glancing over his shoulder at the group behind him, he softly smiled and returned his view to the forest.

Feeling the cool breeze of the morning wash over his face, Iya frowned when he realized he felt a bit warm. He also began to realize that his breathing was starting to falter into pants, surprising him completely.

"_What the hell is wrong with me? I shouldn't be tired or hot now. We've only been running for a three hours, so it's not been a really long time since we began. Why is it that I feel this way?_"

Continuing to run forward, his brow furrowed in deep thought. "_Something is wrong. My human night was only a few weeks ago, so I couldn't be sick. Half demons and demons don't normally get sick, so I know I couldn't be. I haven't been poisoned, and besides, my body could take care of that. So, what's going on!?_"

Taking a sniff of the air, his eyes suddenly widened when a faint, but familiar scent entered his nose. "_NO! It can't be that! It's not yet time! I have a month to go yet, so why now!?_"

Sifting through his mind for answers, one dawned on Iya when he remembered something his father had told him long ago. "_Father told me once that using more of my demonic powers may force it to accelerate, plus being close to women may cause it to trigger earlier than normal. That's what happened with him and mother..._"

"_Damn it, of all times for this to happen!_" Iya growled deep within his mind. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. "_I have to remain calm and think this through rationally. I can't let the blood rush to my brain. I only have one option, which is to leave the group. I'll be no use to them in this state. Damn..._"

Slowing his pace to a walk, Iya came to a complete stop finally, forcing the others to quickly stop as well. Glancing at all of them, who had confused looks on their faces, Iya calmly said "We're stopping for a break."

"Why the hell are we stopping early? It's not even midday!" Ichigo growled out.

Sighing, Iya calmly said "We're just stopping early, alright."

Turning and walking away from the impatient quarter bobcat, Iya moved off towards the deeper part of the forest. Watching him leave, Lilly noted he was panting and saw sweat forming on his brow. Curious and worried, she followed after him.

Reaching Iya after a few minutes, she ran to his side and asked "Iya, are you feeling alright? You look like something is wrong."

"Leave me be Lilly." Iya ground out as politely as he could. "I need to be alone."

"But something is wrong. What is it Iya? You can tell me." Lilly pushed.

Coming to a stop, Iya clenched his fists tightly and hid his eyes in the shadow of his bangs. "Lilly, leave me alone. I wish to be alone."

"But Iya…"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" Iya snarled while turning to face the half neko demon with a slight bit of red in his eyes.

Gasping in shock at Iya's words, Lilly backed away. Her eyes were slowly filling with tears while she shook her head in surprise and confusion.

Biting his lower lip, Iya heavily sighed and growled out "Sorry."

With his words said, he ran off, leaving a slightly trembling and sobbing Lilly. She instantly fell to her knees as tears streamed down her face.

"Iya… what's happening to you…" she mumbled while more tears poured out of her eyes.

Hearing someone walk up behind her, Lilly didn't even look but heard Ichigo's voice clearly when he said "Hey."

Not getting a response, Ichigo slightly sighed and moved before Lilly. Kneeling in front of her, he lifted her chin so she could look him in the face and asked "What's wrong Lilly? What's bothering you?"

"Iya… something is wrong with Iya. He would never… he would never…" she began but broke down into more tears.

Frowning, Ichigo asked "Never what?"

"He… he yelled at me. Iya has not once ever raised his voice to me." she finally managed to get out. "He has never once yelled at me. Even in training, he not once yelled at me. But just a few minutes ago, he yelled at me! And I saw it in his eyes, a reddish color, like he was truly angry."

A deep scowl appeared on Ichigo's face at Lilly's words. Mulling them over in his mind for a moment, he weakly smiled and said "Don't take it personally. Something must be wrong with him."

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Lilly mumbled with a few tears falling.

"Don't worry your pretty head off about it." Ichigo remarked while standing up with a small smile, making Lilly gasp in bit of a surprise. "I'll talk to him. For now, just go back and relax."

Weakly smiling at Ichigo, Lilly nodded and stood back up. Using the sleeve of her kimono top, she wiped the tears away from her eyes and meekly said "Thank you Ichigo."

"Don't worry about it. Just go back to the others and tell them I'll be back in a while with Iya."

Nodding weakly, Lilly began walking in the direction of the others, leaving Ichigo by himself. Once Lilly was out of hearing range, he heavily sighed and glanced in the direction Iya's scent was coming from.

"Damn it, what's wrong with him I wonder. It's unlike him to be unreliable, and at a time like this of all times." Ichigo grunted out.

Letting out one more sigh, he muttered "Might as well go find him and find out what's going on."

--

Leaning up against the cool rock wall, Iya closed his eyes and relaxed. Leaning against his shoulder was Ketsaiga's hilt while he tried to calm his light panting.

"_But Iya..._" "_I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!_"

Opening his eyes, Iya heavily sighed. "I shouldn't have yelled…" he grumbled.

"_I could see it in her eyes: the fear, the hurt, and the pain. If only she hadn't of kept badgering me, I'd have left and nothing would have been any different, but she wouldn't stop asking me what was wrong. I only hope she can forgive me for that outburst._"

Pulling his hands into his lap, he stared at them and fisted them. "_It's so unfair that this has to happen now. We're so close to finding Kenshin and Kurama, but of all times, I had to become incapacitated. Now I can't help at all._"

"So there you are." a voice cut in, making Iya glance up to see Ichigo entering the cavern he had taken refuge in. "Figures you'd find a cave like this to hide in. By the way, thanks for making it nearly impossible to find you like always."

Softly smiling while looking downwards, Iya quietly replied "I knew you'd find me and had the best chance to. Inuyasha and Orihime are skilled, but you know what to look for when tracking me."

Crossing the cavern, Ichigo pulled his sword off of his back and set it down beside of himself as he fell to the rocky ground. "So, are you going to tell me why you broke that girl's heart by yelling at her?"

"I didn't mean to. She just kept pushing at me, asking me what was wrong." Iya gruffly remarked.

Noting the half dog demon was slightly panting, Ichigo raised an eyebrow and asked "Are you that out of shape that our small run wore you out?"

"No." Iya flatly ground out. "It's… something else."

"What?"

Casting a glare at Ichigo, Iya growled out "Don't play the same game Lilly was. You just need to know what you're going to do, that's all."

"Alright, then what am I going to do?" Ichigo irritably questioned.

Sighing slightly, Iya looked down at his clawed hands and moved Ketsaiga so that it sat in his lap completely. Clutching the sheath of the sword with both hands, Iya calmly and slowly said "You're to take them on ahead and fight Kenshin and Kurama. Make sure to kill them both."

"And why are you not going!?" Ichigo snarled.

Staring at his sword, Iya quietly said "I'd rather not say. I'm not capable of leaving this cave for three days, so it's up to you."

Glancing up at Ichigo, he added "It's up to you. You're the only one that can lead the group and win this fight. I know you can do this, Ichigo."

"Again, I ask you, why are you not going!?" Ichigo impatiently demanded. "And don't give me that crap about you'd rather not say either. I know you don't bail out on people that you make promises to, so explain it to me."

Looking away at the wall opposite of Ichigo, Iya quietly muttered "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Remaining quiet for a few moments, Iya finally responded with "Remember about fifteen years ago, I told you I'd be gone for three days and that I would return after that?"

"Now why the hell would I remember something that far back and so minor!?" Ichigo growled out with irritation.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Iya stared down at Ketsaiga sitting in his lap. Choosing his words carefully, he at long last spoke up once more. "Ichigo, let me ask you a question before I begin explaining. Have you ever wondered why I'm not a three-quarters demon instead of a half?"

"Not really. It's not something I ever dwelled on." Ichigo calmly remarked. Stroking his chin for a second, he finally added "Although, now that I think about it, why are you a half demon instead of three-quarters? You said your parents were a full demon and half demon, so you should be a three-quarters demon."

Nodding slightly, Iya retorted "Correct, my father was a full demon, and my mother of course was a half demon. I should be a three-quarters demon, but that is not the case due to a very special reason."

Closing his eyes for a moment, he reopened them and slowly said "Back, long ago, my father rescued my mother when she was very young from my grandfather, who was the headman of a human village. Apparently, my grandmother, a full demon, had fallen in love with my grandfather, but the feelings were not reciprocated. He only used her and when they had a child together, he eventually killed my grandmother and tried to kill my mother. Luckily, my father arrived, only to find my mother dying. He saved her with Tenseiga and took her in under his protection. She was trained highly and was rather gifted, and on top of that very beautiful from what I was told. She often gave my father advice on things of importance that helped him in his ruling of the Western Lands, and was his friend most importantly I suppose. Eventually, he named her an advisor."

"When the Eastern and Western Lands went to war a little over three hundred years ago with one another, it was her that negotiated a fair peace agreement between the two lords. The Eastern Lord was rather thankful for my mother's negotiation, for she was fair to both sides and didn't punish the Eastern Lands very badly for their attacks on the Western Lands. That thankfulness was carried over as a friendship."

"The peace was fragile though, and eventually, a dispute broke out between some demons on the border. The Eastern Lord had no desire for war again, so he called for my father and my mother to come settle the dispute. He asked for my mother specifically due that she had done such a nice job on the peace agreement for the war."

"Father and mother began the long trek towards the Castle of the Eastern Lands soon after they had received the invitation. It was a long journey, but the pair didn't mind at all."

Pausing for a moment, Iya finally began again and said "On the way, my mother's night of weakness was scheduled. She would be human one night, but father knew that and swore to protect her."

"And it's not like she couldn't protect herself in her human form." Iya added with a small smile. "Anyways, the night of her human transformation was approaching, but that day, father noted something was wrong with himself. He was short of breath and feeling hot. It didn't take him long to finally deduce what was wrong with him."

"That was?" Ichigo impatiently asked with a scowl.

"He noted that his scent had shifted slightly. It had a bit of a musky smell to it." Iya informed. "That led him to one conclusion: he was going into heat."

Frowning heavily, Ichigo asked "You mean demon heat?"

"Yes." Iya flatly remarked. "When father figured that out, he told my mother to leave him behind, for he planned to ride his heat out by staying in a cave for three days."

"My mother argued with him at first, but finally she heeded his commands to leave him behind. Father went into a cave and began to rest, just waiting for his heat to envelope him. Unfortunately, his loneliness didn't last long."

"Foolishly, my mother returned to him, which made him rather mad. She there and then, with not much time before sundown, in which she'd become human and his heat would take full effect, declared that the meeting needed him. They were to be there in two days, and that the peace was so fragile that she couldn't even begin to think to insult the Eastern Lord by having father late. So, she made her decision."

Looking at his hands, Iya mumbled "She offered her own body to calm his heat. Father was shocked by this and refused her flat out. Still, she argued with him, saying he needed to be at the meeting, and that she was willing to do this to make it happen. Father of course refused her once more, but each time he did so, it became harder for him to do so. His heat was beginning to affect his judgment and thoughts, but still, he fought against it and refused her."

Sadly smiling, he added "Mother was persistent though. Not much longer into her argument with him, the sun set, with her becoming human. With the sun down, father was struggling even harder to maintain himself. She offered herself once last time. It was too much for father to resist, and his heat overwhelmed him. He took my mother's offer and took her to bed."

"Father was a bit ashamed of what he did, but my mother didn't mind. She secretly loved him, but knew that they would always be friends due that father loved her only like a friend, not a mate. The next day, they headed onwards to the meeting and neither spoke of the night again, for a month."

"A month later, my mother realized she was pregnant with me. Upon finding out, she let father know, who vowed to take care of her, no matter what and to help raise me. He swore to do whatever it took to help raise me and protect the two of us."

Letting out another sad smile, Iya said "For nearly five months, things were normal, and then the sixth month of my mother's pregnancy hit. Half demons are born in seven months, so it wasn't too surprising to her. The surprising part was when it happened. It was on my mother's human night."

Feeling a few tears welling up in his eyes, Iya pushed them back and quietly mumbled "I was born that night, but my mother, she died in the birth. There was nothing that could be done for her."

"It was discovered upon me being born that I had characteristics of a half demon, not a three-quarters demon. No one could figure out why, till finally father remembered that while he was in heat, my mother was in her human form. It was decided that since she was human that night, I was thus born a half demon."

"Many years later though, when I began to train, I showed signs of strength of a three-quarters, but no one could figure out why. Even now, it's undecided why I show so much more strength than a normal half demon."

Glancing up at Ichigo, Iya quietly said "But one thing was for certain. As I got older, my powers have proven to get stronger, showing signs that I am technically a three-quarters demon. I discovered this at a young age."

"This is nice and all, but what does all this have to do with you staying away from the group for a few days?" Ichigo ground out.

Sighing, Iya mumbled "You didn't catch it. I guess that's not too surprising."

Staring at the quarter bobcat, Iya bluntly said "I'm going into heat Ichigo. That's why I can't be with you all for the remainder of the trip."

"Oh…" Ichigo muttered with understanding. Looking at his hands, he slowly asked "Is it not possible for you to work off your heat…"

"No!"

Seeing anger and a touch of fear in Iya's muddy eyes, Ichigo asked "Why not? I mean, if you work off your heat, you'll be able to help us and end this chase for these two mages."

Closing his eyes, Iya quietly said "You wouldn't understand why. I just can't do it."

"But Iya, we need you!" Ichigo growled out. "I can't beat both Kurama and Kenshin!"

Lowly, he added "Besides, I haven't reached Banki yet… That means I can't even beat Kenshin alone."

"You'll still have to lead them."

Glaring at the half dog demon, who had his eyes focused in on his sword, Ichigo snarled "I can't do this alone! Come on man, just release your heat this one time so we can move on and kill those mage bastards!"

"I swore long ago I wouldn't release my heat that way again!" Iya fired back angrily with a bit of red flashing in his eyes while staring at Ichigo.

Clenching his hands tightly around Ketsaiga, Iya closed his eyes and heavily sighed. A moment later, he mumbled "I'm sorry… It's harder to control my temper and emotions leading up to and during my heat."

Taking a deep breath, Iya let it back out and reopened his eyes. "Ichigo… If there was any other way for me to go, I'd do it, but I swore to myself long ago that I'd never relieve my heat that way again. I'm truly sorry, but I can't go with you and the others."

"So, you're going to break your promises to the group?"

Feeling the sting of Ichigo's words, Iya quietly said "I have no choice."

"Whatever." Ichigo growled out while standing. Grabbing his sword, he placed it back onto his back and threw a heated glare at Iya. "Some great dog demon you are. You made some pretty important promises Iya, one specifically to a certain half neko demon that you'd save."

Not saying a word back, Iya sat on the floor. Grunting at Iya's quietness, Ichigo stormed out of the cave. Just as he was about to leave, he came to a stop at the entrance of the cavern, saying "Iya, this is wrong. Do what you feel you need to, but I think you're making the wrong decision on which promise to keep."

With his words said, the quarter demon left the cave, leaving behind Iya who clutched the sheath of his sword very tightly. Staring at the sheath, Iya felt hot tears sliding down his cheeks while he clenched his jaw tightly.

--

Nearing camp, Ichigo caught wind of Orihime's scent and changed course so that he could find her. Following her scent, he paid no heed in the direction he was heading and soon found himself at a river.

Looking out at the water, he saw her standing in the water with her back to him and her hair unrestrained and covering her back. "Orihime, I need to talk…"

In mid-sentence, Ichigo stopped when he noticed that he saw her bare legs facing him, along with bare shoulders. Hearing her name, she turned towards him, revealing she was nude.

"Oh, hey there Ichigo! What do you want to talk about?" she curiously asked while Ichigo's face turned blood red and his eyes were the size of pie plates.

Snapping himself around to face the opposite direction, a furiously blushing Ichigo managed to finally say "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were bathing!"

Tilting her head inquisitively, Orihime asked "Does it bother you?"

"NO! I mean yes!" Ichigo frantically said. "I'll leave you to finish…"

"It's alright. I can talk to you while I bathe." Orihime calmly remarked.

Blushing even deeper, Ichigo grumbled back "No, that's alright. I'll leave and come back in a while."

Shrugging, Orihime calmly replied "No, just give me a moment and I'll dress."

"Alright." was all Ichigo muttered back while staring off into the forest. "_Damn, I can't believe she's so casual about me seeing her naked. I was embarrassed as hell the first time I accidentally saw Rukia nude. Not to mention, she had made me pay for it._"

"Ok, I'm done."

Turning around to find a dressed Orihime with her hair still down, Ichigo felt his face release the blush that had been there before. Regaining his sense of self, he sat down on a rock nearby, which Orihime did as well.

"So, what's going on with Iya? Why did he rush off like that before?" she curiously asked.

Looking up at her and into her grey eyes, Ichigo saw the sincerity and concern behind them. Lightly sighing, he slowly said "He told me he can't continue on our trip to kill Kenshin and Kurama."

"Why not!?" Orihime asked with a touch of concern and anger.

"Well, he's… he's in heat."

Gasping with a touch of shock, Orihime glanced down at the ground and put her chin within her right hand. "That explains a lot." she mumbled. "I thought his scent was a little off earlier, not to mention I saw that he was out of breath and seemingly sweating a bit. No wonder he went off on his own."

"Yeah…" Ichigo mumbled.

The pair lapsed into a silence for a few minutes before Orihime finally spoke once more, her words full of seriousness. "I'll go help him work his heat off. We need him more than he knows in the upcoming battles."

"It won't work."

Frowning deeply, Orihime glanced up at Ichigo and asked "Why not? Demons all the time work their heats off. Don't forget, I lived in the bobcat dens, so I knew how heats worked and helped a few through them. I don't mind helping Iya. He's a friend, and I'd do anything to help him out, even if it meant allowing him to use me to relieve his heat."

"I know you would." Ichigo commented with a touch of blush on his cheeks. "But the problem isn't that it won't work, it's more like he won't accept the help. I tried to get him to use that option earlier, but he refuses. He commented that he made a promise to himself to never use someone to relieve his heat."

"Oh… So, he refuses to work his heat off due to a promise he made himself?" Orihime questioned. "That's interesting, I suppose. Still, we need him. Alone we can't win these upcoming fights, even with Lilly, Kagome, and Inuyasha."

With a scowl, Ichigo muttered "I know, but he's so damn stubborn. He won't accept any help with his heat. I never even knew till today that he had heats. Apparently it's due to his lineage, because he's technically a three-quarters demon. His mother was in human form the night her and Iya's father came together. Iya's father was in heat also, so maybe the heats transferred to him."

"Possibly…" Orihime murmured. "In any case, we need Iya."

"We have to respect his wishes though…" Ichigo grumbled. Clenching his fists tightly, he added "No matter how much we think he's wrong."

An uneasy silence enveloped the two, with each sitting and seemingly lost in their own minds in thought. Breaking the silence, Orihime smiled and said "I wonder if he has thought about his promise to Lilly."

"He has, I think. He doesn't want to break it, but he said he can't keep two promises that conflict with one another."

Frowning, she replied "I don't think he's really thought about what that promise he made to Lilly really meant. She trusts him with her life, and he swore to protect her life. In turn, she eventually swore to protect his life."

"I know what you mean, but again, it's his decision." Ichigo reiterated.

Remaining quiet for a few moments, Orihime smirked and said "I think Lilly needs to have her say in this. After all, it is her that he fancies."

"Wait a minute! We can't go telling her. If she decides to try and help him, he'll be furious!" Ichigo growled out. "Besides, she shouldn't have to make a decision like that."

"You may not see it, but I do." Orihime quipped. "They look at one another with love in their eyes, but I know Iya is probably holding himself back due that she's in danger of becoming Kenshin's slave. But this is a time where they're going to have to lay that aside and admit what they feel."

"Orihime…" Ichigo grunted lowly.

Smirking, she stood and said "We'll find out what she thinks soon enough."

With her words said, the bobcat mage took off running towards the camping area, leaving a fuming Ichigo behind. "Damn it, don't do that!" he cried out after her.

--

Sitting in the top of a tree, Lilly glanced up at the sky like she had been for the last few hours since Ichigo had left. "_Iya... are you really alright?_"

Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the trunk of the tree. Images of when she was with Iya, how he had shown compassion to her, how he had been there and comforted her, and how he had made her believe that he would always be there raced through her mind.

"_Lilly, from here on, I vow to protect you. I won't let this happen to you again. On my life, I swear I will protect you till my dying breath._"

Sadly smiling, she mumbled within her mind "_He made that oath the night I transformed when I was attacked by that woman who worked for the mages. She hurt me a good bit, but I lost control like always. Iya thankfully got me to revert back, and made that promise._"

Materializing into her mind suddenly was the memory of the night her first human night. "_Mine and Iya's human night._" she mumbled deep within her mind.

Remembering how handsome Iya had looked in his human form, she remembered what he had said that had made her so happy. "_But it's nice to have you here to keep me company._"

Feeling her cheeks warm at the happy memory, another one flashed into her mind. She was running towards the battle between Kimimaro and Iya, with Iya about to be killed she thought.

"_I won't let him die! He swore to protect me, and I swear here and now I'll protect him with my life too! If he died because of me, I could never forgive myself!_"

Softly smiling, she opened her eyes and stared off at the clouds. "_I made that vow, and I swear I will go through with it._"

Closing her eyes once more, she remembered how his touch felt on her skin, his scent that soothed her, and just how looking into his eyes made her believe in whatever he would say or do. Smiling in her mind, she felt her cheeks heating up from her thoughts.

"You seem comfortable and to be thinking about something interesting."

Jumping in shock and losing her balance, Lilly opened her eyes and plummeted out of the tree to the ground. Hitting it none too gently, she heard the owner of the voice hit the forest floor before her.

"I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet?" the bobcat mage playfully said.

Standing up and rubbing her backside, Lilly shot a glare at the bobcat mage, only to receive no reaction. Sighing, she mumbled "You nearly scared me to death."

Chuckling at the neko's words, Orihime smiled and said "Well, you were in deep thought about something that was seemingly making you happy. What was it?"

Blushing a bit, Lilly waved off the bobcat mage and mumbled "It was nothing."

"It was about a certain black haired half dog demon, wasn't it?" Orihime mischievously questioned.

Getting flustered, Lilly turned away and gruffly said "Mind your own business."

Chuckling at the neko's state, Orihime calmed down and seriously said "Lilly, I need to talk to you about Iya."

"What about him?" Lilly responded quickly and turned back towards the female mage with worry reflecting in her eyes. "Is something really wrong with him? I knew I should have followed him, but…"

"Calm down first off." Orihime firmly said. Seeing Lilly quiet, Orihime sighed and slowly added "What is going on with Iya is something that happens to him naturally that he wishes for no one to see."

Pondering on her next words, Orihime was about to speak when suddenly Ichigo landed on the ground before the pair. "Orihime, leave her be!" he barked out.

Smiling innocently, Orihime replied "I don't know what you mean."

"Ichigo, let Orihime tell me what is wrong with Iya." Lilly growled out. Returning her attention to the bobcat mage, she nicely said "Go on."

"Wait Orihime! You know he wouldn't want to involve anyone!" Ichigo warned.

Shrugging, Orihime remarked "Is it really his choice though?"

"You damn well know it's his choice whether he relieves his heat or not!" Ichigo declared, but gasped in shock at his blurt. "Damn it! Now look at what you made me do!"

Looking between the two, Lilly shyly asked "Iya's in heat?"

"Yes, he's in heat. That's why he yelled at you earlier. He was trying to get away from the group, but you pestered him, making his anger rise to the surface." Ichigo explained.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Lilly looked to the quarter bobcat with shimmering emerald eyes and slowly asked "That means he'll be gone for three days, doesn't it?"

Rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably, Ichigo heavily sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he'll be gone for three days."

Tears slowly slid down Lilly's cheeks as she hid her eyes below the shadow of her bangs wordlessly. In a whimper, she softly said "He won't be coming with us then."

"Lilly…" Orihime murmured and reached out for the half neko demon, who smacked away the bobcat mage's hand.

"I want to be alone." Lilly mumbled. "Just leave me alone."

Hearing the sorrow filled words, Orihime felt her own heart break upon the declaration of the half neko. Quietly, she said "Lilly, there is a way to help."

Looking up with tears still streaming down her cheeks, Lilly pleadingly asked "How? He's going to be forced to stay away, and we only have these three days left. How can we even help him?"

"By getting rid of his heat." Ichigo grudgingly spoke up. "It's something that he said he was against, but under these circumstances, I think we should go against his decision."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Lilly finally asked "You mean, help him relieve his heat, like Miroku did with Sango?"

Slowly nodding, Ichigo sighed and replied "Yes, much like how Miroku helped Sango. I broached the idea already to Iya, but he refused it. Still, we need his help, more than he knows."

Clenching his right hand tightly till his claws dug into his own skin, Ichigo lowly growled out "I haven't achieved Bankai yet, meaning I'll not be able to handle Kenshin by myself for sure. I've seen the power Kenshin has when he fought my mother's full demon form, and again I saw it when he and Hat-and-Clogs fought."

Pausing for a moment, he added "I may be able to fight him for a while, but I don't possess the power needed to kill him, that much I'm certain of."

Realizing how hard it was for Ichigo to say his words, Lilly used the sleeve of her kimono to dry her eyes. "So, what do we do?" she questioned.

"I'm ready to help Iya, but that's not fair to you." Orihime declared, earning her Lilly's full attention. "I know you care deeply about him, if not love him. I would never do something to hurt you purposely, so I thought it should be your decision."

"My decision?" Lilly questioned with confused eyes.

Lightly giggling at the innocence Lilly was displaying, Orihime replied "What I'm saying is this. We need someone to help Iya relieve his heat. I could do it, since I helped many bobcats when I was in the bobcat dens, but again, you care deeply for Iya. That's why I came to ask you if you wish to help him instead."

Blushing, Lilly shyly said "You mean for me to help him relieve his heat by… by…"

"By having sex with him." Orihime finished, making Lilly and Ichigo both blush, with the half neko blushing more deeply than the quarter bobcat. Seeing the hesitance in the neko's eyes, she added "Lilly, this is your choice. No one is going to make you help Iya with his heat. As I said, I'll do it if you don't wish to."

Pausing for a moment, Orihime glanced at Lilly's eyes, seeing a touch of confusion and doubt in them. "I know you're unsure about doing this, which I don't blame you. This is something that will be very personal between you and Iya. I just have one question for you before I leave you to ponder on the question."

Looking attentively at Orihime, Lilly awaited the question. After a moment, the bobcat mage asked "Do you love him, and wish to be with him?"

Blushing furiously at the question, Lilly tried to answer, but found herself unable to come up with a proper response. After a few moments, she finally said "I care very deeply for Iya. Ever since he came into my life, I've felt so much more alive than before. Just hearing him talk to me makes me want to believe in him, and to trust him."

Warmly smiling, Lilly softly said "My answer is yes. I love Iya, and I want to be with him and help him in any way that I can, and to protect him like he has promised to me."

"Well then, it sounds like your mind is made up." Orihime commented. Tapping her chin, she said "A shame, I was looking forward to getting some action."

Both Ichigo and Lilly each turned a shade of scarlet at the words of Orihime, who giggled at the two. "You two are too easy to make blush. Anyways, Lilly, I should warn you what you may need to expect with him."

Nodding weakly, Lilly said "Alright."

"When you are with a demon that is in heat, even if it is a half demon, you should be aware that they'll be rough with you. A demon in heat will be focused on releasing their heat, not on trying to be gentle. I don't know if Iya has ever been with anyone before, so I can't tell you what he'll do, but I'd just be aware that he may not be so gentle with you. I'm sure he'll try to be, but his demonic nature will be pushing him to relieve his heat by being rough." Orihime explained.

Processing what Orihime said, Lilly nodded. Seeing that, Orihime added "Also, during your first coupling, it may hurt. Do you know about that?"

Blushing a bit, Lilly mumbled "My mother told me a little bit about it, that my first time I'll probably bleed."

"Good, then you know what to expect. If you go to Iya before the sunset, he should be in control enough to try and be gentle." Orihime commented. "Of course, the longer the day goes on, the more control he'll lose over his body. I suggest going soon to him."

Turning to Ichigo, Lilly asked "Ichigo, where is he?"

"I'll point the way for you." Ichigo remarked. "My trail is pretty fresh yet, so you'll just have to trace my scent back to him. It shouldn't be too hard to find him because I came straight back after I found him."

"Thank you." Lilly mumbled lowly. "What will you tell the others?"

Shrugging, Orihime commented "For now, I suppose just that Iya decided to stop for the day. It's up to him to tell them the real reason if he wants to tomorrow."

Softly smiling, she added "For today and tonight though, it is your two's time to be together. Again, just be careful. I'm sure he'll try not to hurt you, but it maybe harder for him than you'll ever know for him to do that."

"I understand." Lilly replied. Bowing to the two, she said "Thank you, both of you, for everything."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ichigo muttered "Don't worry about it. Now come on, I'll show you the way."

Nodding, Lilly smiled and followed Ichigo's lead. Orihime followed the pair as well. A few minutes later, they arrived at the spot where Ichigo had turned to go to Orihime earlier in the day.

Pointing in the direction he had come from, he said "Follow my trail. You'll come to a cave after a while. Inside it, he's hiding towards the back."

"Thank you." Lilly remarked with a smile.

Sighing, Ichigo slowly said "Just be careful. Don't provoke him. I don't think he'd hurt you, but right now, he's very touchy. Good luck."

Nodding, Lilly turned and ran off in the direction Ichigo had pointed in, allowing her nose to guide her. Once she was out of sight, Ichigo let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you think he'll allow her to help him out?" Ichigo asked.

Thinking for a few moments, Orihime replied "I hope so. I know he's got to be in tremendous pain from not releasing his heat, not to mention, it would break Lilly's heart if he didn't help complete the mission he began."

"Yeah… I only hope he decides to allow her to help." Ichigo commented with a sigh.


	42. Chapter 42: Past Promise

**Hey everyone! Well, this week has been so busy. First off, on Wednesday, a coworker and I took a trip for the company I work for up to the home office in Dayton, OH. We had a good trip, with us working with our teammate on a project up there. Last night, we returned, but I had so little sleep on Wednesday night. I got maybe only an hour or two at most. It always happens when I'm up there, which sucks. I just can't fall asleep there for some reason. Oh well, anyways, we made it back yesterday, but I was exhausted, lol. My mate thought I was going to pass out once I got into the house, hehe. Other than that, life is about normal, with me looking forward to going on vacation in a week. I can't wait!**

**Writing wise, I'm trying to finish up some chapters for this story, but I keep getting distracted or busy with other stuff. I'm trying to work on this story, but I constantly get sidetracked or busy, sadly. Hopefully I'll get some major writing done soon.**

**Ok, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Lady S: Glad to see you're back, hehe. Thanks about the chapter. I know, it's not an action packed one, but it explains a few things about Iya's mysterious past. The update for this week is today, lol. Sorry I didn't PM you that. I was disposed and couldn't remember to write back. My apologies on that one. Hope this makes you day go over well. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: No, no lemony warnings yet, hehe. So, you and the fakes are working together. I knew it! (/Watches evil Ed and Al kick fake Ed and Al's butts. Hears evil Ed scream "How do you like me now shorty!"\) See, they're evil, or at least have some evil extras. Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: LOL! I suppose it is kinky, hehe. True, I suppose Lilly would have been rather mad if Orihime had made that offer to Iya, lol. Heh, Lilly made her decision on her feelings for him at least. Glad you liked the chapter. That sucks about not getting to go to the beach. Heh, kind of rude also of your boyfriend for not paying for this trip on your birthday. Some people are like that, although it's something I dislike myself. Lol, good luck on that killing spree, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. I wish to thank all three of you for each of them. I truly appreciate each of you taking the time to review the chapter. It helps so much in me figuring out if I'm doing a decent job or not, lol. Also, a special thanks to the two people who added me to their fav stories list. I truly appreciate that as well. And anyone who wishes to review, feel free to. Don't be shy about it. I can take any criticism that is tossed at me, good or bad, so don't let that stop any of you from letting me know what you truly think.**

**Before I move on and start this chapter, there is a small warning here. This chapter isn't a lemon, but it does have some suggestive instances. Very few, but you can figure out what's going on if you think about it. I just thought I'd warn you all beforehand so you knew.**

**At any rate, I need to run, so I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 42**

Finding the cave that Ichigo and Iya's scent led into, Lilly took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "_I can do this. I have to. He needs me, and I promised to protect him. No matter what, I'll help him._"

Opening her emerald eyes once more, she slowly walked into the cave. She instantly picked up Iya's scent, noting it was different from it's usual woods and cinnamon mixture. It seemed to be a bit spiced with something else that made her feel her cheeks warm up when inhaling it, but she couldn't identify it.

Pushing her new thoughts away, she continued to go deeper into the cavern till she finally found a large room. In the far corner of it sat Iya, with his eyes closed and ears twitching.

Snapping his muddy colored eyes open, Iya clenched his jaw tightly when he saw Lilly walking towards him. He had heard someone approaching not long before, but had thought it was possibly Ichigo. Eyeing Lilly warily, he felt his mind begin numerous thoughts, but did his best to push them to the back of his mind.

Clutching Ketsaiga tightly, he glared at Lilly and heatedly said "Lilly, leave! I can't be around…"

"Ichigo told me about your heat already." Lilly cut in, making Iya avert his eyes quickly.

"Stupid bobcat." he grunted out. "I should have known he'd do something like that."

Giving a feigning smile, Lilly began walking closer to Iya. Seeing this, he clutched Ketsaiga even tighter and snarled out "Lilly, don't come too close to me!"

Stopping in her tracks, she tilted head to the side and asked "Why not?"

"Lilly, right now it's really hard for me to control myself." he answered in a clipped tone. "Even though I'm not fully in heat yet, it's effects are rather strong. If not for the fact that I always keep Ketsaiga with me, or near me, I would lose complete control. Please, just leave me so I can let me heat ebb away over the next three days."

Standing very still, Lilly sadly smiled and shook her head. "Iya, I can't leave you."

Eyes widening a fraction, Iya hid his eyes below his bangs and miserably mumbled "That's what she said."

"Who?"

Lifting his face up to look at Lilly, he snapped back "No one! YOU MUST LEAVE!"

Shaking her head once more, the half neko demon approached Iya. He began to scoot to the side a bit while clutching his sword for dear life. With a touch of fright in his eyes, he whispered "Please, don't Lilly. I don't want to hurt you too…"

"Hurt me too? What are you talking about Iya?" Lilly questioned.

Averting his eyes, he muttered "If you move away, I'll tell you. Once I finish though, I want you to leave me be."

"I might." Lilly remarked softly.

"I hope you do." Iya dryly replied with a scowl. Sighing heavily, he leaned back against the cool wall and closed his eyes for a moment. Reopening them, he slowly said "This happened long ago, back when I was only fifteen years old."

"I was living in the Western Stronghold. I had yet to be sent out alone on patrols, but was helping with them. Sesshomaru and myself had just come home from one and I decided to visit with a friend of mine within the Stronghold. Her name was Kaia. She was a really nice human, whose parents worked for the Stronghold. Her father was a chef, and her mother one of the numerous servants. Kaia was my age, and probably one of my best friends."

Sadly smiling, he continued on, saying "She didn't care that I was a half demon. In fact, she thought I was rather special since I had the best of both worlds."

"Anyways, I had come home the day before and we were out making rounds around the Stronghold and just talking. We found her mother preparing to leave, so we stopped to talk with her."

--

Walking along the courtyards of the front of the Western Stronghold, Iya glanced over at his companion and softly smiled while she continued chatting about the events that had happened since he had left a few weeks before. She had long black hair that had a blue tint to it that reached her butt in length and was hanging freely, soft violet eyes, a slender body, and cream colored skin. Her clothing consisted of a yellow flowing kimono with long sleeves, a green obi, and sandals on her feet.

Suddenly stopping her conversation, she spotted a person up ahead and said "Iya, that's my mother there. I wonder why she's out here."

Spotting the woman that his companion had spoke of, he saw her with long black ebony hair that reached her mid-back in length, but was held in a ponytail, with brown eyes and wearing a long pink kimono with sandals. "I don't know Kaia. Let's go find out." Iya commented while moving forward.

The pair soon arrived at Kaia's mother's side, who smiled at the pair. She bowed to Iya, saying "Lord Iya, it's a pleasure to see you this morning. I trust Kaia hasn't been causing too much trouble with you?"

Lightly chuckling, Iya shook his head and softly replied "No, we were just out walking, so no trouble."

"Momma, where are you going?" Kaia questioned.

Smiling at her daughter, the woman replied "I'm off to pick some herbs for your father to cook with. He would have, but he's rather busy."

"But momma, you have things to do today. Let me go do it for you."

Frowning slightly, the older woman pondered on the suggestion, only said in reply "No Kaia, I can't send you out there alone. You're too young, and some demon may attack you."

"The same could happen to you though momma." Kaia countered. "Besides, it'll take you all day to get there and back. Let me go do this for you."

Shaking her head, the older woman was about to retort when Iya cleared his throat and politely said "I could go with Kaia. It's a day long journey there and back for a normal person, but for a half demon like me, we can be back by late afternoon."

"Lord Iya, you don't have to…" the older woman began, but Iya shook his head and smiled softly. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind helping you and Kaia out. Besides, with me with her, she'll be safer and get the work done quicker."

Thinking for a moment, the older woman sighed and smiled back, saying "Very well, Kaia, you and Lord Iya may go for me."

Bowing deeply to Iya, she humbly said "Thank you Lord Iya."

Waving her off, Iya warmly said "Don't worry about it."

Nodding in reply, the woman smiled and turned to her daughter. She quickly explained what they were looking for. A few minutes later, Iya with Kaia riding on his back raced away from the Western Stronghold.

--

Softly smiling, Iya said "I carried her the whole way, but along the way, I had started noticing something. I was feeling a bit hot, not to mention I was running out of breath easier than I thought I should have. I shrugged it off and ignored it, thinking it was just where I was carrying Kaia."

Shadowing his eyes with his bangs, he mumbled "Oh how wrong I was. On the way back, I truly realized how foolish I was."

--

Running along with Kaia on his back and the herbs they had picked in her pack, Iya glanced up at the sky and noted darker clouds filling the sky. Returning his vision to the ground, he felt himself becoming tired.

Feeling Iya slowing a bit, Kaia frowned and asked "What's wrong Iya? Why are you slowing down?"

"Something's not right." he mumbled before completely stopping. Gently, he slid Kaia off his back and fell to one knee. Upon being on the ground, he began panting heavily with sweat pouring down the side of his face.

"Iya!" Kaia exclaimed and moved to his side. Feeling his forehead, she pulled her hand back quickly and said "You're burning up! Come on, you need to rest."

Helping him up, Kaia moved to him to a nearby tree. None to gently, Iya fell to the ground and rested his head up against the trunk. He was heavily panting with sweat sliding down his face still. Pulling a cloth out of her kimono, she poured some water onto it from her canteen. Gently, she wiped his face down, trying to help cool the half dog demon.

"Iya, stay with me, do you hear me?" she questioned with concern in her voice.

Nodding weakly, Iya opened his muddy colored eyes. Glancing to the side of Kaia, he saw the sky was getting darker with menacing clouds overhead. Sniffing the air, he picked up the scent of rain.

"It's going to rain." he commented.

Stopping what she was doing, Kaia looked up at the sky and saw the dark clouds. "We need to move you somewhere else before it does rain." she replied while holding her hand out to him.

Accepting her hand, he carefully stood up with a slight wobble. His breathing had calmed a bit, but he had still yet to calm it completely. Shouldering him, Kaia began leading the way for the pair.

After walking for about ten minutes, the sky began pouring down, with a heavy rain shower hitting the ground. Iya and Kaia's clothing was quickly soaked and clung to their bodies tightly.

A bit desperate, Kaia glanced around and saw a nearby cave. "Come on Iya, that cave will have to be our shelter."

Not putting up a fight, Iya helped the best he could in making it to the cave. Arriving, Kaia gently set him down onto the floor within the cave. Seeing some dry wood and a fire pit already, she glanced around and made sure no one was within the cave. Satisfied, she gathered the wood into the pit and ignited it with a few striking stones. A fire soon roared to life.

Returning to Iya, she said "Come on Iya, let's get you near the fire, that way you can dry off."

"Right…" he weakly whispered.

Reaching the fire with her help, Iya sat down and felt the heat from the fire drying his clothing and hair. Deciding to take his outer top off, he undid his obi and threw the sash to the side. Pealing his kimono top off, he threw it nearby and spread it out to dry. Laying down, he let out a heavy sigh while trying to calm his breath while closing his eyes.

Hearing Kaia bustling about, he remained quiet and laid in his spot with his hair fanned out below him. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Kaia making her way to his side.

Examining her face as she leaned over him and placed a damp cloth on his forehead, he noted how her hair clung to her face and how beautiful she was. His eyes soon roamed further down her body, to her chest, which was slightly revealed due that she had loosened her kimono a bit. He could see the cream colored flesh peeking out from inside of her kimono, and saw a slight bit of her chest.

Closing his eyes and looking away while feeling his cheeks heat up and his body responding to Kaia, Iya tried to resume calming his breathing, but his mind kept crying out for him to look at Kaia instead. "_Why is my body screaming at the sight of her flesh? This has never happened. She's my friend, so why now is this happening?_"

Hearing Kaia move away from him, he sighed and continued to remain quiet. Tweaking his ears, he heard the sound of rain pouring down outside and the sound of the wood popping and cracking. He also heard the sound of Kaia's breathing, which drew his attention the most. Images in his mind began forming of him kissing her and removing her clothing, making him roughly shake his head.

"_What the hell is wrong with me!? Kaia is a friend! I like her as a friend, and a friend alone! Damn thoughts, leave me alone!_" he screamed within his mind.

--

"I laid there for a few hours, with thoughts of Kaia running through my mind. I couldn't understand why at all those times I'd think like that. I just couldn't get her out of my mind, for my body was crying out to take her. And the more I thought about her, the more my body burned with an urge to take her. My body, it cried out to take her flesh, but I continued to try and push it out of my mind." Iya explained.

Lilly remained silent upon hearing his words. Hearing her silence, he continued on, saying "Over those next few hours, the day was coming to an end. I wasn't getting any better, only worse. Kaia did what she could to keep me cool. She continued to wet a cloth and place it on my forehead, and even went as far as to remove my inner top. But the closer the end of the day approached, the more my inappropriate thoughts became."

--

Panting heavily still, Iya laid on the ground with his eyes closed tightly. Thoughts about Kaia continued to race through his mind, ones that he did not take kindly to. Each was of him doing something with her, whether it be undressing her, kissing her, or other things that he didn't want to really think about.

"Iya, can you hear me?" she asked aloud, making him weakly crack his eyes open.

Nodding meekly, he replied "Yes…"

Softly smiling, she said "Good, I was worried. You've just lain there for so long with your eyes closed. Your fever still hasn't broken yet."

"Yeah…" he murmured while averting his eyes.

Frowning, she asked "Is something wrong? Ever since you laid down, you've been refusing to look me in the face."

"It's nothing."

"Something is wrong. It's unlike you to act like this." Kaia argued.

"Just drop it." Iya gruffly remarked.

Frowning still, she shook her head and replied "If something is wrong, you can tell me."

"Drop it." Iya bit out roughly.

"No, something is the matter with you. What is it?"

Turning to face Kaia, his eyes bled red with him snarling out "I SAID DROP IT!"

A bit shocked at Iya's words and the color of his eyes, Kaia backed up a bit. His eyes quickly returned to their muddy brown color, with remorse showing on his face. "I'm sorry Kaia…" he murmured.

Sadly smiling at him, Kaia nodded and said "It's alright. I shouldn't have pushed you so much. You should rest. It looks like we'll be here till tomorrow anyways with that storm out there."

Weakly nodding, he closed his eyes and relaxed as Kaia stood and went to the entrance of the cave to look out. With Kaia's presence gone, Iya sighed, but soon enough, images in his mind of him and Kaia once more doing inappropriate things flashed up.

Opening his eyes, he looked towards the stone wall near him. "_I'm so disgusted with my thoughts. What's wrong with me!? It's like a whole other person is in me thinking those things up!_"

Without warning, he felt his body pulsate. Raising his clawed hand to look at it, he felt his body pulsate once more, this time seeing his hand doing so. Again, his body pulsated, this time twice in a row. Eyes widening, he saw his claws were lengthening. At the same time, he felt his fangs growing out as well. He also noticed that his body seemed to burn more as well.

Suddenly, he felt himself slowly sitting up. Not understanding, he tried to lay back down, but felt his body not responding. "_My body, it's moving on it's own!? What is going on!?_"

Standing up, Iya padded over towards the cave entrance. Kaia heard him coming and quickly turned and rushed to him, worriedly saying "Iya, you shouldn't be up! Go lay back down…"

She suddenly stopped when taking in his appearance. Her eyes widened and her voice creaked out "What happened to you? Your eyes, they're red and blue-green!"

A dark chuckle came from Iya upon Kaia making her declaration. He smirked and licked his lips hungrily while staring at her. "Iya?" she nervously asked.

Still stalking towards her, he darkly chuckled once more, till he suddenly stopped and raised a clawed hand to hold his head. In a raspy voice, he said "Kaia… run away…"

Shaking her head rapidly, she quickly replied "Iya, I can't leave you!"

"Kaia…" he mumbled before removing his hand from his face.

In Iya's mind, he suddenly felt his mind shutting down. "_What is this? Why is it all going dark…_"

--

"I lost complete consciousness of what was going on after that." Iya commented with sorrow in his voice. "I didn't know it at the time, but my body had transformed into my full demon state, hence why I blacked out."

Lilly looked to Iya with sadness in her eyes. She wanted to approach him and comfort him, but knew better.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke up once more, saying "When I came to, I knew then when I had done…"

--

Slightly moaning, Iya felt his mind and body slowly becoming conscious of his surroundings once more. Sniffing the air first, he picked up the heavy scent of blood and something else that he couldn't identify. Checking the blood scent once more, he found that it wasn't his own, but quickly identified it as Kaia's.

Weakly cracking his eyes open lazily, he saw that he was on his stomach. Drawing his hands and knees up under himself, he slowly pushed himself up and onto his knees. The first thing he saw when sitting back nearby was Kaia laying on her stomach and half curled up.

Gasping in shock at the condition she was in, he slowly scooted closer. Reaching her, he saw she was nude, with what was remaining of her clothing laying on the ground close by. It was ripped to ribbons for the most part and looked as if it had been forcefully cut off of her body.

Examining her body closer, he saw that she had numerous claw marks running up and down her body, with dried blood caked over the marks. Most of the marks were around her hips and sides, with some extending around to her front side, which he couldn't see. Her hair was matted somewhat, with blood seemingly mixed into it. The side of her face had some scratches as well.

Noting she reeked of the new strange scent Iya couldn't identify, he found that the scent was heavily rising from her lower body, from between her legs.

Weakly standing up with a wobble, he glanced down and suddenly realized that his own body was nude. Looking closely, he saw blood on his own body, and saw that his hands were coated in the dried crimson liquid. Bringing his hands to his face, he looked in horror as he found the blood on them held the same scent as Kaia's.

Glancing between Kaia and his own hands, he suddenly felt his head hurt tremendously, making him fall back to his knees. A flash of memory filled into his mind.

His vision was hazy red, but he could make out the form of someone being leaned over before him. He saw his clawed hands gripping tightly onto their hips, scratching the person as he did. Without warning, the person looked back, revealing tears streaming down their face. Making out the face, Iya realized that without a doubt, it was Kaia. He felt his body driving into her again and again, and heard himself grunting out with a feral voice. Kaia was screaming out in pain, mixed with ecstasy when he heard his other self roaring loudly and felt his body releasing it's hungry need.

Waking from the memory, he shook his head roughly. Tears poured down his cheeks as he fell to his hands. "Kaia… What have I done!?" he screamed aloud.

Unable to look up at Kaia, he grabbed his nearby discarded clothes and left the cave after slipping them on. He raced out of the cave as fast as he could and towards the east. Not slowing, he felt tears continue falling from his eyes while he continued to run, not seemingly wanting to ever stop.

"_How could I have done that to her!? I'm a monster!!_"

--

Remaining quiet for a few minutes while tears leaked down his cheeks, Iya finally looked up at Lilly, who had tears sliding down her own cheeks. "You shouldn't cry for me." he mumbled. "Tears shouldn't be wasted on a monster."

"But you're not a monster!" Lilly argued with a flash of anger. "You had no control of yourself due that you were in your full demon state!"

Staying quiet for a moment, Iya finally replied "That's true, but I should have figured out what was wrong with me quicker. For that, I am a monster."

"But you're not! Don't you get it, you had no control over the situation!" Lilly protested.

"Perhaps…" Iya weakly remarked while drying his eyes with his kimono's sleeve. "My father told me the same thing. He had come home the night before and went looking for me and Kaia that next morning. Father found the cave we had been staying in easily enough, but when he discovered Kaia, he was in shock and dismay."

"She eventually woke up and told my father what happened. After hearing her story, he deduced what had happened and told Kaia that it wasn't truly my fault, and that something that rarely happens in half demons had occurred in me. He promised her to make things right. She had been relieved to find out that I hadn't done what I had done on my own accord, and asked my father to find me and help me. My father promised to and first took her back to the Stronghold. Soon afterwards, he set out to find me."

Pausing for a moment, he finally said "He found me on the border of the Eastern and Western Lands."

--

Rubbing his hand roughly in the water of the stream he was standing in, Iya let his tears continue rolling down his cheeks. His hands were already raw from scrubbing them roughly, much like other places on his body.

"Why won't it come off!?" he yelled aloud.

"Because the guilt is weighing heavily in your mind, my son."

Hearing the voice, Iya cringed lightly and glanced up from the stream to the figure on the bank that had said those words. There he saw his father dressed in his usual white kimono top and pants, with his long white hair pulled back in a high ponytail. His amber eyes seemed to stare at Iya, as if peering into his soul.

Averting his muddy brown eyes, Iya weakly said "Father…"

Slowly, he began walking out of the water. Reaching land, he fell to his hands and knees before Inutaisho. "Father, slay me…"

Raising an eyebrow, Inutaisho asked "Why should I kill my own son?"

"What I've done to Kaia is unforgivable…" Iya said in a broken voice while tears poured down his cheeks. "I… I… I hurt her… I hurt her so badly father. I've seen flashes of memory from last night, and I know what I've done to her. I've marred her for life…"

Without warning, Iya suddenly felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. Looking up with tears still falling, his muddy brown eyes widened when he saw his father sadly smiling at him in a crouched down position.

"Iya, my son, I am so sorry." Inutaisho sadly remarked with sadness reflecting from his amber eyes. "I had no idea that this cursed fate would be laid upon you. If only I had known, you would never have suffered so greatly."

Unable to respond, Iya stared at his father for a few moments. Finally rising, Inutaisho moved to a nearby rock. Patting a place beside of him, he said "Come my son, I shall explain to you what happened to you."

Nodding meekly, Iya stood and took a seat beside of his father. Unable to meet his father's gaze, he continued to stare at the stream before him.

Softly sighing at his son's quietness and inability to look him in the face, Inutaisho softly said "Iya, what happened to you yesterday was not your fault. I found Kaia this morning while looking for you."

Seeing his son's sadness seem to rise even more, Inutaisho quickly added "She was alive and fine. She was confused at your actions, but she told me what had happened. Once I heard her story, I knew then what had happened to you my son."

"I became a monster…" Iya miserably muttered.

Sadly smiling at his son, Inutaisho shook his head and replied "Not true. Your body was unable to resist the effects of the demon heat, so it transformed you into your demon form."

Looking up suddenly at his father with surprise in his eyes, Iya asked "Demon heat?"

"Yes, demon heat." Inutaisho confirmed. "Kaia described to me the conditions you were experiencing up until you lost control. Sweating, breathlessness, and seemingly losing all sense of yourself are some of the symptoms. And I'm sure you can confirm the remainder of them. Did your body ache to have her?"

Blushing furiously, Iya weakly mumbled "Yes…"

"And I suppose you felt yourself on edge as well." Inutaisho added. "Kaia mentioned that you grew angry when she questioned you what was wrong. That is another one of the affects. I can also deduce by the slight scent on you that your body responded to the sight of her skin as well. My only guess is that when your body got to a certain point to where the demon blood within you could no longer hold itself back, so you transformed. Your demon blood then decided to relieve the heat with the only person it could find, which unfortunately was Kaia."

Stopping for a moment, Inutaisho glanced at his son, who seemed lost in thought. "Do you understand now why I say it was not your fault my son? There was no way for you to fight your demonic blood. Most half demons are cursed by it for that fact. If their lives are in danger, or a situation calls for it, their demonic blood takes over and transforms their body to call forth more of their demonic power. Your blood did just that last night, so it is truly not your fault. Your human blood was overwhelmed, thus you lost control."

Silence filled the air for a few more moments before Iya quietly asked "You mean that all of this mess was caused by my heat?"

"Yes, it was my son." Inutaisho grimly remarked. "Had I known your demon blood was strong enough to sustain a demon heat, I'd have prepared you and made sure you'd have known the symptoms and been ready for it."

Remaining silent for a minute, Iya slowly looked up at his father with tears starting to slide down his cheeks and weakly said "That doesn't change how I feel about what I did to Kaia."

Sadly smiling, Inutaisho reached over and ruffed Iya's hair, careful to touch his son's ears. "I know my son, and for that, I'm truly sorry. She was an innocent victim, as were you. I promise though, amends shall be made for what has happened."

Standing up, Inutaisho flashed another feigned smile and added "And now that we know about your demon heats, I can help you protect yourself from them. It's time I gave you something that will help you from transforming. Come, let's go home."

Weakly nodding, Iya stood up. Seeing his son was ready, Inutaisho began walking. Iya mutely followed, seemingly settled on doing what was necessary.

--

"When I returned to the Western Stronghold, father gave me Ketsaiga." Iya softly remarked while staring down at the sword he held. "He told me that it would keep my demon blood in check so long as I had hold of it or had it near me."

Pausing for a moment, he tightened his grip on the sword and whispered "I went and saw Kaia also… She sort of understood, and said she forgave me. I promised her to make up for what happened, but she said it was alright. But not long after that, she had a change of heart and grew cold towards me. She wouldn't allow me to go anywhere near her. I had heard through rumors that she had begun hating me. It wasn't long till she finally ran away from the Western Stronghold. Her parents soon left after that, seeking to find her."

"The day I received Ketsaiga, I made a solemn promise to myself that I've kept for all of these years. I swore I would never relieve my heat, for it is my punishment for harming Kaia."

Glancing over at Lilly, he slowly asked "Do you understand now why I can't be with anyone while in heat Lilly? I made a promise to not harm someone like I did Kaia. Her life was ruined thanks to me, and I refuse to ruin another life."

Pondering on Iya's words, Lilly remained quiet. Noting that, Iya glanced at her and said in a raspy voice "Lilly, please, just leave me here. Let me work my heat out the way I always do."

Flicking a glance at him with her emerald eyes, Lilly saw the sorrow hidden within his muddy brown eyes. She remained quiet for a moment more till she finally broke her silence at last.

"Iya, do you remember the promise you made me on the morning that I was human?"

Ignoring her question, Iya clenched his jaw and spat out "Lilly, don't be foolish! Can't you understand that I can't be around you!"

"I remember the promise you made." she remarked while ignoring his words. "You promised that I would see another sunrise with my own human eyes, that you would break the spell that binds me to Kenshin."

Hearing her repeat his words, Iya looked away and bit his lower lip. Picking up the scent of salt, he glanced back at Lilly to see tears had begun falling from her eyes.

"You made that promise, and I believed you, Iya." Lilly softly said. "And before that, on the night that I transformed into my demon form for the second time, you promised to protect me, that you wouldn't allow me to transform again, and that you'd protect me till your dying breath."

Closing her hands over her heart, she closed her eyes and slowly reopened her shimmering emerald orbs. "I made a promise not long after that for you, one you never heard. When Kimimaro nearly killed you, I promised that I would protect you always, that I would never allow you to die for myself."

Staring at Lilly with his muddy brown eyes, Iya mumbled "Lilly…"

"I swore Iya that I'd always be there for you, that I'd always help protect you. If I stopped doing that now, I would be betraying my promise." Lilly remarked. "I know you made a promise to yourself long ago about not ever relieving your heat, and I understand, but at the same time, it's breaking my heart. I want to be by your side when we defeat Kenshin and the other mages. Without you there, we cannot succeed. So that is why I'm offering you myself to help with your heat."

Falling to her knees, Lilly hunched over in a humble bow and whispered "I care for you deeply Iya, and I want to help you the only way I know how. So please, accept my help. Allow me to take away this heat for you. If it is the only thing I can do for you, I will gladly do it."


	43. Chapter 43: Loving Sacrifice

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, I spent the day helping my dad brush hog his property. That was a long day, but we got most of it done. Sunday, I visited my grandparents like always and saw my sister and her boyfriend there. We had a nice time, with grandpa being a little bit fussy, but oh well, it happens. Other than that, I'm just clicking the days off till Saturday, when my mate and I head to Myrtle Beach, SC, thankfully, hehe. I can't wait to go on vacation this weekend through next week. Plus, next Monday is our anniversary, so good times all around.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten a bit done on this story, but I feel I'm still so far behind. I know I am a little, but still, it just never seems to catch up, sadly. Oh well, at least I'm doing decent on keeping up with things for now. Plus **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** is suffering also due to my inability to focus on two stories. I'm trying though, so bear with me.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**L: Hmm, my mate brought up a good question. Are you the real L, or just Kira impersonating L? Lol, I know, silly us. Thanks for the comments about me being a good author. I try hard, so it's nice to hear comments like that. Hmm, poor character usage, eh? How so? I'm just curious so I can work on it. As for brining characters back from the grave, I hadn't planned on it. Those that are dead will stay dead, so no return for someone like, oh say, Naraku! Lol, he's dead, so no resurrection for him. Thank you for your review, and I look forward to hearing from you again!**

**kattana: Yep, poor Iya, he lost his best friend due to his demon nature. The reasoning behind her hatred is a question mark. Perhaps later on it will be revealed, hehe. Heh, yeah, we all know Iya wants to be with Lilly, but like this, I don't think he would do that. Still, you never know. True, Lilly is a half demon, so she'd heal much faster than a normal human would if the two worked his heat off. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, the 5****th****, eh? I take it then that you three are in league then! I knew it! (/Points at the two in the nearby car.\) Go arrest them all officer! Lol, anyways, back to business. Yes, the mushy stuff is going on right now, but trust me, the action is coming. Just bear with me. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I appreciate each of them. Also, thank you to the two people who added this story to their fav stories list. I truly appreciate that as well. At any rate, thank you to all of you for your continuous support.**

**Ok, now to get down to business. This chapter is a lemon, so I am marking it right now. I will mark where the lemon begins, and where it ends. In all honesty, I found this lemon more tame than my last, at least that's what my mate says. Anyways, to any who wish to skip the lemon, just do a search for the words "End Lemon." Thank you.**

**And at that, I'm done with this post, so I hope all of you like it. I think many of you will like what happens. At any rate, enjoy!**

**Chapter 43**

Staring at Lilly's figure for a long few moments, Iya finally closed his eyes. "_Lilly... She cares so much about me that she is willing to do what my mother did for my father: to give everything and ask for nothing in return._"

Opening his muddy brown eyes to look at Lilly once more, he slowly stood up by using Ketsaiga as a crutch. Moving to Lilly, he kneeled down to one knee and placed a hand on the half neko's shoulder, causing her sit back onto her knees and look him in the eye. His muddy brown eyes met emerald ones, and the pair stared longingly into one another's eyes.

Setting Ketsaiga beside of his body, he took hold of one of Lilly's hands with one of his own and ran his clawed hand over her palm. Feeling the sensation of his claws running over her palms, she couldn't help but feel a small shiver run down her spine from the sensation.

Taking a deep breath, Iya stopped running his claws over Lilly's hand and took hold of it with both hands. Looking into her emerald eyes with his own muddy brown ones, he softly said "Lilly, I promise you here and now, no matter what happens after tonight, I will protect you. I will fulfill my vow to save you, no matter the cost. You will be free from Kenshin, I swear to you."

"Iya…" Lilly whispered, but was stopped when Iya took one hand from her own and placed a finger over her mouth and shushed her.

Seeing she had quieted, he softly smiled and cupped her cheek. Softly, he said "I promise Lilly, I will try to be as gentle as I can."

"It's alright." Lilly murmured. "Orihime mentioned that demons when in heat aren't too gentle. I understand if you can't control yourself."

Averting his gaze, Iya quietly said "I promise, I will make this up to…"

Before Iya could finish his sentence, Lilly boldly moved forward and pressed her lips against his own, essentially quieting the half dog demon. He was a bit shocked at her move, but quickly relaxed into the kiss.

Lilly could feel her world spinning about her, but she pressed on. Just inhaling his scent was intoxicating her, forcing her to become bolder than ever before. "_It's like whatever is in his scent is driving me wild, filling me with courage to do what I've never thought of doing before._"

After relaxing into her kiss, Iya took a bit more control and slid his tongue across her lips. With a moment of hesitation, Lilly finally relented and opened, allowing him to deepen the kiss.

Taking in her taste, Iya could feel his heat rousing his demon side, but continued to maintain his focus and control. He probed her mouth a little deeper, earning him a small moan from her. A few more moments passed before the two finally came up for air, each with flushed cheeks. The two rested their foreheads together, each panting lightly.

Pulling back away from one another, the two stared into one another's eyes, each seemingly searching for something. A moment later, Iya reached forward and gently brought his lips to Lilly's and gently scraped his fangs along her lips. She softly moaned from the sensation while the two deepened the kiss once more, each tasting the other's mouth. Lilly timidly snaked her arms around Iya's neck, pulling the two closer together while Iya softly ran a clawed hand through her hair.

Feeling his heat continuing to build and his inner demon beginning to awaken, Iya forced his mind to remain in control. He could feel the presence of Ketsaiga nearby, and thanked his father silently in his mind for the sword.

**From here on is a lemon warning. This is just to let you all know. If you wish to skip this part, do a search for "End Lemon", which will take you to where the lemon ends. Thanks.**

Sliding his hands down from Lilly's hair to her cheeks, he slowly moved a second one off her cheek to her neck, then trailed down her shoulder. Softly, he ran his clawed hand along her arm and then down the side of one hip and back up her back, causing her to feel a small chill run down her spine.

Coming up for air, the pair pulled apart slightly to look one another in the eye. Moving the hand he had placed on his back onto her cheek once more, Iya softly said "Lilly, it's not too late you know. If you want me to stop…"

"Iya, I want to help you, no matter what." Lilly firmly replied before he could finish. "If I was having second thoughts, I'd have told you. I want to be with you, no matter what the consequences are."

Weakly nodding, Iya quietly said "I understand. I'll try to be as gentle as I can."

"It's alright." Lilly murmured while moving in and placing a chaste kiss on his lips before grabbing the ribbon that held his hair back and pulled it free. Claiming her prize, she pulled back and smirked at him as his hair spread out behind him.

Softly growling at her action, Iya smartly said "Vixen."

"I am a neko after all." Lilly purred and swished her tail close to his own hip. "Cats are meant to be a little flirty and playful."

Smirking at her, Iya leaned forward and placed a light feathery kiss onto her lips. He slowly deepened it while he felt the hunger of his heat rising in his mind. Pressing the urge to forcefully take Lilly into the back of his mind, he continued to kiss her while she looped her arms back around his neck. Softly, he moved his hands down around her back and felt the curve of it.

The pair soon came up for air, each panting lightly with Lilly's cheeks stained with a light blush. "_She's so beautiful._" he murmured within his mind.

Reaching into her obi, she carefully pulled her sword and sheath out of the loop and turned towards a corner of the cave. Setting the sword in the corner, she shyly glanced over her shoulder and softly smirked at the half dog demon. With her back still to him, she reached out and pulled the knot free from her obi, allowing the sash to fall freely to the side and have her kimono open. Carefully, she slid her top off and the battle skirt, along with a pair of shorts too, leaving her standing only in her shift.

Eyeing Lilly, Iya felt himself start to pant a touch harder than he had been. Just staring at her bare legs, arms, and shoulders made him wish to rush over to her and rip the shift off of her and burrow his member deep within her. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly while restraining the thoughts in his mind.

"_This is so much harder than my other heats have been. During them, I've just accepted my lot and stayed alone for three days. With Lilly though... Just the sight of her flesh is driving me wild. I really want to do this right, but it's so hard to just remain focused._"

Taking a deep breath, he heard movement and opened his eyes once more. He saw Lilly staring at him with her emerald eyes, with a touch of fear, excitement, and happiness in her eyes. Her tail swished behind her once and she slowly began moving towards him.

Getting closer, Lilly softly smiled. "_I don't know why his scent is affecting me so much, but it's really turning me on. He's so handsome. Even if this is all I can do for him, it'll have to be enough._"

Watching Lilly pad towards him softly with her tail swaying with the rhythm of her hips, Iya licked his dry lips. In his mind, he felt his inner demon yelling for him to rush forward and take her for his own, but he kept his actions in check. Reaching forward, he began to pull at his obi, but felt a soft hand take hold of it instead.

"Allow me." Lilly purred with a bright blush on her face.

"_IS SHE TRYING TO MAKE ME LOSE CONTROL!?_" Iya screamed within his mind when he felt her pull the knot out of his sash.

Carefully, Lilly reached out and pulled open Iya's outer kimono and began sliding it off of his body. As it reached his elbows, he reached out and took hold of her wrists, making her gasp in surprise and look up at his face.

Clenching his jaw tightly, Iya quietly said in a raspy voice "Allow me."

Removing his kimono top the rest of the way, he pulled open his inner kimono as well and threw it off and onto his other top. Seeing her eye his well sculpted chest, Iya felt his male pride rising as she slid a hand across his abs. Remaining calm as she continued to rub his chest, he reached forward and ran his hands over her shoulders. Staring her full in the face, he smiled a feigned smile.

"You are so beautiful." he softly whispered. "I don't deserve to be with you."

Eyeing him, Lilly softly smiled and replied "No, it's the other way around Iya, but enough words. You need to release your heat, and talking won't do it."

With her words said, she edged herself forward and locked lips with him. Taking control of the kiss after a moment, Iya deepened it and enjoyed the taste of her mouth. He gently scraped his fangs over her lower lip, making a small shiver run down her spine.

Kissing her a bit more roughly than previously, he soon drew back and began kissing along her jaw bone, causing an elicit gasp to escape Lilly. Her hands moved from his chest to his hair and began scraping his scalp, making a small growl escape his own throat.

Slowly, bit by bit, Iya worked his way down her jaw to her neck and to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Remembering the words of his father about marking a mate, he felt an urge in the back of his mind to take her as his mate, but knew better than to do something foolish while in his heat.

"_One day, when the time is right, I'll take her as my mate perhaps, if she'll be able to stand me._" he glumly thought as he moved on from the juncture to her collar bone.

Enjoying the sensations Iya was creating by his nibbling, Lilly moved her hands gently up to his ears and began to softly stroke them, making a small growl escape his lips. A small smile graced her face at the sound, urging her to continue to stroke the soft fury triangle appendages.

"_That feels so good..._" Iya mumbled within his mind while it seemed wrapped up in the feeling of her soft hands rubbing his ears.

Moving his claws hands to where the straps were on Lilly's shoulders that held up her shift, he slowly ran them down the straps to above her breasts. He stopped just above them and moved to her sides, following the natural curves of her body. Drawing his hands back up the sides of her body, he once more approached the curve of her breasts and again hesitated.

Sensing his hesitation, Lilly stopped rubbing his ears and took hold of his wrists. He instantly glanced up at her, making her shyly smile at him. With slightly trembling hands, she brought his wrists over the curves of her breasts and set his hands atop of the two bumps.

A little surprised at her actions, Iya remained still for a moment till finally he began to gently cup her left breast. Hearing a soft gasp of pleasure escape Lilly, he inwardly smiled and began moving his other hand. Staring at her breasts, he could see her nipples straining against the thin silky fabric. He softly ran his fingers over each of the bumps and padded each with his thumb, earning yet another small gasp of pleasure from her.

Sliding one hand further down her body, he ran it gently over her flat stomach and then down the curve of one hip, but moved his hand so that it traveled along her inner thigh and down to the hem of the shift. Lilly instantly reacted with a small moan from the mixed feelings of his hand's motion and his other hand still working around her breasts.

Feeling his heat starting to flare up within him, Iya fought with all his might to keep control of his body and senses. Sensing he was struggling internally to remain in control of his body, Lilly reached out and softly cupped his cheek.

"Iya, it's alright." she whispered.

Looking fully in her face with his muddy brown eyes that had a small touch of red in them, he weakly mumbled "I'm so sorry for this. Forgive me."

She was about to reply when he moved forward and crushed his lips to her own. Feeling her body heat up from the forceful kiss, she melted into him, allowing him full access to her mouth. Noting she was submitting to him, Iya broke the kiss and took hold of the bottom of her shift. In a simple motion, he pulled it quickly over her head, revealing her body completely to him while her hair cascaded down her back.

Taking in her body, he felt his own body responding to the sight of her flesh. Seeing her nipples were fully awakened, he glanced down at the triangle of coarse hair that was at the juncture between her legs. Licking his lips hungrily, he glanced back up at her face and saw a blush staining her cheeks.

Reaching out and cupping her cheek, Iya pulled her up against his body and whispered to her with a few inches between them "Lilly, you are so beautiful."

Blushing a bit more, Lilly mumbled "Thank you."

Slowly, his lips met her own with his fangs scrapping against hers. Deepening the kiss, Iya began running his hands over Lilly's soft skin, staring with her shoulders and working his way down the curve of her back, then up her hips and along her thighs, till finally tracing the outside of her breasts.

Pulling back, he stared deeply into her emerald eyes while she stared back at his muddy brown ones that had a small tint of red to them. Unable to resist his heat any longer, he slowly pulled her to the ground and laid her on top of his kimono tops. His hands quickly began roaming her body, moving from her chest down to between her legs and back. Kissing her once more, he soon pulled back and began nibbling on her jaw bone, earning him an elicit moan.

Slowly, one of his hands found itself at the juncture between her legs. Carefully and being mindful to watch how he used his claws, he ran his hand softly through the coarse hair, earning him another moan from Lilly. Slipping his fingers through the hair till he found her nub, he gently rubbed it, finding it already slick and wet. Instantly Lilly arched her back and let out a moan of pleasure.

Smirking inwardly at her reaction, Iya gently continued rubbing it, causing her to begin panting and grasp fists full of his kimono top. Moving cautiously, he found himself between her legs looking down at her body. Leaning forward, he parted her hair with his one hand while retracting his other, making her whimper slightly till she suddenly felt his warm tongue replace his fingers. Upon feeling his tongue, she arched her back even higher and gasped out at the feelings he was creating within her.

Continuing to lick and nip at her nub, Iya smirked in his mind when he heard her panting and moaning becoming much louder. He felt his member becoming painfully fully erect, but held himself back. "_She needs this. I owe her this much at the least._"

Reaching down and running her fingers through Iya's hair, Lilly scrapped his scalp with her claws and let out another loud moan. "_This feels so good. I never knew that it would feel like this._" she mumbled deeply within her mind.

Without any warning, she suddenly felt his tongue slide away from her nub to her entrance and slip inside of her. Immediately, she threw her head back as she arched and pushed herself against his tongue. A moment later, she screamed out in ecstasy as she climaxed for the first time in her short lifespan.

Tasting her fluids, Iya noted in the back of his mind how she tasted. Remembering that his father had told him about how when two demons mated that the two would do this so that they would never forget how one another tasted and smelled so they could always identify one another, he realized that the desire in his heart was to truly make her his mate, but knew better.

"_I can't make her my mate. Not yet at least. I can't force that on her right now. One day we'll mate, but for now, I have to get rid of this damn heat._"

Sitting up, Iya leaned back onto his knees and stared at Lilly. She was still panting, with her chest rising and falling quickly. Staring at her, he inwardly smirked at how beautiful she looked.

Feeling his heat rising still, Iya grumbled within his mind at it but made his decision to act on it. Standing, he removed his pants, freeing his already erect member. Hearing a gasp, he glanced down to see Lilly staring at him with wide emerald eyes. Feeling his male pride boasted by her surprise, he laid down next to her.

Pausing for a moment, he hesitantly said "Lilly, if you wish to stop…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Lilly placed a finger his lips, shushing him effectively. Staring into his muddy eyes, she whispered back "I have no regrets in wanting to do this. Please, do what you must."

Nodding slightly, he pulled her into his arms and softly kissed her while feeling her body smashed up against his own. Gently, he ran his hands down her body, enjoying the feel of her curves.

Unable to hold his heat back any longer, he sat up and flipped Lilly onto her stomach, who let out a small squeak in surprise. He quickly lifted her hips and sat her onto her knees and began fitting her body against his own. Pressing a finger into her, he found she was plenty ready for him. Lining his own body up to hers, he slowly began pressing his member into her entrance, earning him a small gasp of surprise as he did so. Little by little, he slid himself further into her body while she grasped fistfuls of his discarded kimono.

He soon enough broke through her barrier, making her whimper lightly in pain, but soon found the pain fading away and replaced by pleasure. Fully within Lilly at long last, it took all of Iya's self-control to remain still for a minute. Feeling he was resting and giving her body a bit of time to adjust, Lilly lifted herself so that she was sitting on her hands and knees.

Clenching his eyes tightly shut, Iya felt Lilly's walls tightly surrounding his member, making it excruciatingly difficult for him to remain still. Unable to do so any longer, he began withdrawing from her body, only to stop a small ways from being fully out and plunging himself back into her.

Lilly instantly let out a moan from the pleasure she was feeling. Hearing her, Iya couldn't help but wish to go faster, but resisted with all his might. "_This is her first time, I don't want to hurt her. I need to be gentle as possible. There will be time to relieve myself soon enough._"

Gently as possible, Iya continued to slowly thrust in and out of Lilly's body. Both were panting, with Iya panting heavily and straining himself to not give into his heat's desires.

Soon enough, Lilly felt in her lower stomach a coil seemingly being wound tighter and tighter. Iya was slowly picking up his tempo and thrusting a little faster. In response, her walls seemed to tighten a little around his member, making it even more difficult for him to remain in control of his heat.

At last, he could barely hold himself back, so he began thrusting harder and longer while his hands firmly held her hips in place and was pulling her into himself. Leaning over, he began licking her back and then moved up to her neck. Without warning, Lilly felt the tightening coil in become far too tight, making her scream out in as she felt herself climax for the second time that evening. Upon her doing so, her walls rippled and clenched tightly around Iya's member, making him scream out as he reached his own climax and emptied into her pliant body.

Without realizing what he was doing while climaxing, Iya sank his fangs into the juncture of Lilly's neck and shoulder, but she didn't even notice what he had done for she was too far gone in the mutual feelings her and him had created with their combined climaxes.

Falling onto her elbows, Lilly wanted to completely fall to the ground, but felt Iya's strong hands holding her hips up still. Glancing back, she saw that his eyes were clenched shut tightly while his face seemed full of concentration. Watching him open his eyes once more, she saw his normally muddy brown eyes gleaming with red tint in them.

Suddenly, she felt him pulling her over onto their sides with his member still buried deeply within her. In a faint whisper, she heard him say "I'm sorry."

Unable to understand what he was talking about, Lilly didn't get a chance to answer as he began thrusting deeply and hard into her once more.

--

Throughout the evening and into the night, the pair came together again and again. Lilly had tired after the first two hours at last and was unable to sit on her knees or move at all, but that didn't stop Iya from holding her up while he continued to relieve his heat.

Reaching the middle of the night, at long last, Iya felt his heat subsiding. For the umpteenth time, he emptied himself into Lilly's exhausted body. Unable to hold himself up anymore, he fell forward and almost onto Lilly, but managed to catch himself. Distributing his weight, he shifted off to the side and pulled her into his arms.

Both their bodies were covered in sweat, their hair matted, and each reeking of sex. As gently as possibly, Iya pulled Lilly up against his own body and grabbed one of his tops and pulled it over their bodies as a blanket.

**Alright, here is the end of the lemon. From here on, things are clear again. End Lemon.**

"I'm so sorry Lilly." he whispered while barely conscious. He didn't receive any kind of comment from the half neko demon though, for she had finally fallen asleep within his arms.

Sighing slightly, he gently brushed her hair away from her face and placed a small kiss on her cheek. Laying back down, he felt his own mind slowly falling into an unconscious state at long last.

--

After resting a few hours in a dreamless sleep, Lilly slightly stirred. In her mind, she suddenly saw a woman forming before a mental image of herself. Staring at the woman curiously, Lilly slowly took in her appearance.

The woman had calve length black hair and black dog ears on her head, a black fluffy dog tail sticking out from behind her, and a pair of muddy brown colored eyes. Her clothing consisted of a fine blue silk kimono top with a battle skirt, each having pink sakura flowers embroidered into each, with a sword on her hip that had a black sheath and a pink hilt.

"Who are you?" Lilly questioned while cocking her head to the side.

Smiling warmly, the young woman bowed to Lilly and softly said "You are very beautiful indeed. I see that Iya has chosen a wonderful match for himself."

Blushing lightly, Lilly quickly shook off the feeling and asked "How do you know Iya?"

"I've known and watched over him for a very long time." the woman calmly replied with a small smile. "After all, he is my son."

Gasping slightly, Lilly slowly asked "Your son? Then that means you're…"

"Yes, I am Iya's mother, Asami." the woman finished with a smile. "And you are Lilly, the half neko he has sworn to protect and save from the mages."

Nodding slightly, Lilly was unsure of what to say to the woman before her. Finding her voice, she quietly said "Iya misses you terribly."

"I know." Asami commented with a sad look in her eyes. "I wish I could have been there for him while he grew up, but it was not meant to be. Nonetheless, he has turned into a wonderful young man that I am very proud of."

Softly smiling once more, Asami calmly said "But he is not the reason I have appeared before you. I have come before you to help you become stronger."

"Stronger? How?" Lilly questioned inquisitively.

"You are stronger than you know Lilly, but the power you possess right now is not enough yet. The power I wish to tell you of is one that I once possessed." Asami began while motioning towards the sword on her hip. "Kimi served me well once long ago when I walked among the living. The power it possessed was incredible. Iya's father, Lord Inutaisho, had the sword fashioned for me so that I could use it at any time, as a human or half demon."

"Did Totosai create Kimi for you?"

Shaking her head slightly, Asami slightly chuckled and replied "No, actually, he didn't create it. It was one of two swords that Inutaisho did not entrust Totosai to. The first was Sounga, but it was different. And Kimi was the other."

Frowning, Lilly asked "Then who created Kimi?"

"It was created for me by a sword smith named Kisuke Urahara." Asami answered. "He fashioned the sword for me with the help of a few of my fangs, along with Inutaisho's fangs. When he finished, Kimi was given to me."

Thinking for a moment, Lilly snapped her fingers and said "Wait, Urahara is the man that created Ichigo's sword, Zangetsu. You mean the same man created yours?"

"Yes. Urahara has been known throughout Japan for his creations, with each sword being special in their own way." Asami explained. "Kimi is very different from Zangetsu, and the same can be said for the other swords that Urahara created, along with his apprentice's swords. No one sword made by either is the same."

Pondering on her words for a moment, Lilly finally asked "So, no sword is alike, and each has a spirit, correct?"

"Correct." Asami agreed. "Kimi has it's own spirit, which I can sense is awakening the longer you carry it. That is the main reason I have come."

Pausing for a moment, Asami soon said "The spirit within Kimi seems to have taken a liking to you, much like it did to me. Soon you will be able to commune with the spirit, and then you will begin your training to learn to use Kimi properly."

"But I haven't time!" Lilly hurriedly said. "In another two days, my time is up!"

Softly smiling, Asami softly asked "Do you have so little faith in my son?"

"No…" Lilly mumbled with a bit of embarrassment. "I trust him completely and with my life, but I'm worried…"

"Then you have nothing to worry, do you?" Asami posed.

Pondering on her words for a moment, Lilly softly sighed and nodded her head. "I suppose you're right. I'm just scared about Iya getting hurt…"

Softly smiling at the half neko, the half dog demon moved forward and embraced the young woman. Pulling back, she smiled once more at Lilly and said "You have nothing to fear. Iya swore to protect you, and my son shall keep his word, I know it."

Meekly nodding, Lilly pulled away and quietly mumbled "I just hope you're right."

"Has he let you down yet?"

Thinking on Asami's words, Lilly shook her head and replied "No, he hasn't."

"Then don't worry so much. My son will take care of you."

Lightly smiling, Lilly nodded weakly. Smiling at the nod, Asami kindly said "Now that you are assured, I will teach you how to commune with Kimi. The sword has a bit of a lazy streak within it, so you may have difficulty, but I trust you'll be able to tame it."

"Let's hope." Lilly wistfully remarked.

Chuckling at Lilly's remark, Asami calmly said "Let's begin."

--

Panting heavily while sitting on one knee with his sword dug into the ground before him, Ichigo glared before him at the older man with sunglasses that passively was staring back at him.

"_What's the matter Ichigo? Have you already reached your limit tonight?_" Zangetsu calmly asked.

Growling lowly, Ichigo stood and rushed forward with his sword drawn at his side. With a loud roar, he slammed his sword forward at the older man, only to be parried by the twin blade of his own. The two swords ground against one another for a few moments with sparks forming.

Pulling back at last and moving away fifteen feet, Ichigo slammed the tip of his sword into the ground and began panting heavily. Blood dripped to the ground from a few previous wounds, but he paid no heed to it at all.

"_Is that all you have Ichigo?_" Zangetsu mockingly asked. "_The time for your battle with Kenshin draws neigh, but you've yet to reach Bankai. If you face him as you are, you will perish in this battle. I would think that twenty-five years of training were not wasted so you could throw it all away so easily._"

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo screamed while standing up and drawing his sword. Racing forward with the blade ready to strike, he yelled "I will defeat Kenshin, no matter what it takes!"

Smirking at Ichigo's declaration, the elder man readied himself for the quarter bobcat's attack. Moving to parry the incoming attack, Zangetsu predicted how Ichigo would attack, but was shocked when at the last moment, instead of side slashing at him like always, Ichigo spun around and began a diagonal slash. With little time to react, the elder man barely managed to dodge the main force of the attack, but his trench coat was not as lucky. It received a cut to it, causing a hole to form where once perfectly woven cloth was.

Backing away from Ichigo, the elder man lifted his trench coat and examined the ripped cloth. Keeping his stoic mask on, he calmly said "_Impressive Ichigo, but still pathetic. It has taken you this many years to finally inflict some damage on me._"

Slightly smirking, Ichigo pointed his sword towards Zangetsu and smartly replied "That may be, but I look at it this way. By actually hitting you, that means I'm getting closer, and I bet that that means I'm getting strong enough to finally harm you."

"_Unlikely_." Zangetsu scoffed. "_Striking my clothing and harming me are two very different things._"

"That might be, but I still believe that means I'm finally catching up to you."

Not responding, Zangetsu moved into a defensive stance, moving his sword before his body, ready to respond to any attacks. Smirking at this move, Ichigo raced forward, letting out a loud yell as he finally reached the elder man. Drawing his sword over his head, he swung it downwards with all his might. Zangetsu instantly parried the attack with one hand, but soon found himself being pushed downwards by a powerful force, one that he had not felt from Ichigo before. He quickly shifted his other hand to hold the backside of the blade while the ground under his feet began crumbling from the extreme pressure Ichigo was pressing upon him.

With all his might, the elder man pushed Ichigo away, sending him skidding across the ground about five feet away. Coming to a stop, Ichigo leapt away another five feet, giving the two ten feet of distance between each other.

Smirking and letting out a small chuckling, Ichigo pointed his sword straight at the elder man and smartly said "Looks like I was right."

"_You've yet to prove that you're finally strong enough to take me down._"

"That a fact, eh?" Ichigo smartly asked. "Then come on, let's finish this in one move!"

"_Very well._"

Shifting their swords simultaneously before their bodies, both Ichigo and Zangetsu readied themselves. Charging forward towards one another, each let out a small battle cry.


	44. Author Note: Apology

Hey everybody,

Hey everybody,

Well, I must first off profusely apologize. Yesterday (Saturday), my mate and I arrived at Myrtle Beach, SC, all set for a week of relaxation and fun. I brought my computer with me to post chapters and possibly write, but came to a startling realization: we have no wireless internet. I found a way to post this up to you all, but still, it is very frustrating to find out we have no wireless internet. We were supposed to, from what I remember of the motel. Anyways, I'm deeply sorry, but due to this, it makes posting new chapters kind of rather hard, so for this week, I'm not going to post chapters. I'm truly sorry that I can't. I had planned on posting 3 this week since I was gone, but with no reliable internet on standby, it's just impossible to. Again, I'm sorry about this and hope you all can forgive me for it. I will return home in a week, so first thing on August 25th, I will post a new chapter, with me more than likely posting at least 3 or 4 that week to try and make up for this fiasco at the beach.

Anyways, I hope all of you have a wonderful week, and if I find an easier way to get on, I won't hesitate to post chapters, but as of right now, it looks like I'm pretty much boned on posting. Again, my apologies on not getting to post. Farewell.

Illidan the Half Demon


	45. Chapter 44: Regret and Silence

**Hey everyone! Well, I must say, it is good to be home after a nice, long, relaxing vacation down at the beach. My mate and I had a great time there. We met up with my mom, sister, and her boyfriend, and we all had a good time throughout the week. This past Monday was mine and my mate's 2****nd**** wedding anniversary, which we celebrated by having a day alone together. What we did, well, I can't say, lol. But we had a great time together, that much was certain. The rest of the week was pretty good, although my mate got a light sunburn on Tuesday, and then a worse one on Wednesday, so she didn't go out the rest of the week. We arrived back Saturday at home in the early evening, so we got to rest up since then. Really, I didn't buy much at the beach. I only ended up buying some work shirts, a pumpkin spice candle (smells like pumpkin pie, lol), some Sharpie markers, a set of dry erase markers (for work), a few DVDs that I wanted (which were old movies, so cheap, lol), and a few other minor things. My mate did better on the shopping end, without a doubt, lol. Anyways, it's great to be home in a lot of ways, although home is so dry (we're in a really dry spell at the moment). Other than that, life is normal.**

**First off, I must apologize for not posting any last week. I originally thought I would have wireless internet in our room, but quickly found out I was mistaken the day I arrived. I found out I could go down to our realtor's office and get onto their wireless network, but I declined. It was a mile away, so I wasn't interested in doing that. My second option for getting on the net was my dial up connection. I cringed at doing that, but I did it to alert everyone that I wouldn't be posting. Again, it is my fault, so I'm sorry.**

**Ok, next on the list, there is some good news, but some bad news… First, the good news is that due to last week's mistake, I will post 3 chapters this week. I know, I hear the happy screams of everyone, lol. Well, just keep screaming so you don't hear the bad news. Sadly, the bad news is, due that I didn't get too much done last week, plus combined with the fact I'm incredibly busy at work, I will only be posting once a week following this week. I know before I was posting twice every other week, but I can no longer do that sadly. I just haven't gotten too many chapters wrote sadly. I promise though, it will stay at one a week for sure. Come hell or high water, I will have one chapter a week, no matter what! So, that's all the news I have. I'm sorry about it, but I'll try my best to make this work and eventually get back to posting twice a week.**

**At any rate, moving along, time for reviews!**

**reanabff: Yes, it was terrible there last week when I couldn't post new chapters. I guess I could have, but over dial up would have truly sucked. Lol, fighting dial up was not an option, sadly. (/Pats you on the back.\) There, there, no crying. Just remember, you get three chapters this week. Thanks for about the trip!**

**2****nd**** L: Heh, thought as much about who your secret identity was. I guess that goes to show I should listen to my mate more often. (/Watches mate nod her head.\) Then again, she told me to not listen to her so much also… Anyways, nice to know who I'm dealing with now. I'm glad to hear you've followed my fic since day one, and it's good to hear you're going to put a fic of your own out soon. If I ever get free, I'll probably check it out, but I am so busy anymore, sadly. Ah, I see what you mean about my character usage. Yes, I do tend to make a good guy bad with some success. Heh, I've not ever made a bad guy a good one that I know of, unless you count Bakura from my story **_**The Wolves Seal**_**, but he was still technically working for his own self. Heh, I had thought about using Azien for one of the mages, but I know so little about him, plus at the time when I began this story, I had not yet reached this far in the show, I think. I can't really remember why Azien was never used. Oh well, but yes, he would have been more fun. Heh, as for Ichigo's inner hollow, or more like inner demon in this story I suppose, well, I haven't thought much on it yet. He is only a quarter demon, so his demonic blood isn't as strong, but that doesn't mean it couldn't exist either. We'll see as things progress. Lol, sorry about killing Renji and Isshin off so easily, but there was a real reason to why they died so easily. Unlike Ichigo, they were 100 pure humans with normal human weapons. Against a full fire demon like Kenshin, they didn't stand a chance. Heck, as you've probably noticed, Ichigo didn't even last long against Kenshin. Only Urahara really stood much of a chance against him. Cool about the Bleach trivia, with the first Quincys being originally in the Fuedal Era. That leaves the door open to so much, hehe. Thank you for your review, and your secret is safe, hehe.**

**kattana: Heh, glad you loved my lemon. True, skipping the lemons does kind of just leave out some details, but I tried to write them so they were possible to skip. Still, they build on the story, so my vote is they're not that bad to read. Heh, yes, go Ichigo! LOL! I like how you say that, a fear of naked women. Well, the other group are… they're… they're still alive, maybe… Lol, I know, switching between the two is not going as well as I originally planned to, but the story's focus is more on Iya than the others, but I'm trying to focus on them. Glad you liked how I incorporated Iya's mom in. She needed to be in there somewhere, at the least. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! I'm surprised you weren't fanning yourself, hehe. My mate commented that this was probably the better of the three too, with it being less descriptive than the prior one with Inuyasha and Kagome, but being a step up from Miroku and Sango's. Heh, Ed and Al don't give up, eh? We'll see about that one. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's that for this week. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciate all of you taking the time and writing down your reviews. It is helpful to me in the long run in writing this story, so thank you once again. Also, thank you 2****nd**** L for adding me to your favs. I can't remember if anyone else did or not. Heh, my memory is slipping since it's been a week since I worked on this. But anyways, thank you to whoever did add me to their lists if I didn't mention you.**

**I'm finished up for today, so until Wednesday, I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 44**

Waking up gradually, Iya slowly cracked his eyes open. The urge to go back to sleep overwhelmed his body, but he fought against it and attempted to continue waking up.

Closing his eyes, memories of the night before rolled through his mind. "_That's right, Lilly helped me work my heat off._"

Noting something warm was snuggled up against him, he cracked his eyes back open and noticed that she was snuggled up against his chest. Lightly smiling he mumbled in his mind "_She's so beautiful. I wish I hadn't done what I did to her last night. I can only hope she forgives me for that._"

"_I care for you deeply Iya, and I want to help you the only way I know how._" a voice in Iya's mind said, which he clearly identified as Lilly's.

Heavily sighing, he glanced at Lilly's quiet form and ran a clawed hand through her hair and shifted some to her back. Uncovering her neck, he saw two puncture wounds on it and let out a soft gasp.

"_How did that happen!? No, I couldn't have!_"

Closing his eyes, he replayed the memories through is mind of the night before, searching for something specific. It finally came to him when he remembered their first coupling. He had sunk his fangs into her flesh, unknowingly to his conscious mind at the time. He was so wrapped up in the pleasure and releasing of his heat that he had not voluntarily done it.

Opening his eyes once more and looking down at her with a sad look, he heavily sighed and ran his hand over the two wounds. "_I'm such a fool._" he mentally scolded.

Slowly moving her so she was laying on her back, he quietly stood up and searched for his discarded pants. He didn't have far to look for them and slipped them on. Finding his boots, he slid them on and grabbed Ketsaiga also, as well as his obi sash. Retying his sash, he placed the sword into it and found his nearby discarded purple ribbon that he always tied his hair back with and tied it around his sword, and then proceeded to leave the cave quietly.

Arriving outside, he saw that dawn was about to break. Rushing onwards, he found a nearby stream. Stripping off his clothing, he leapt into the cool water and sank under it completely. Coming back up a moment later, he shook his head and flicked his ears in an attempt to empty the water out of them.

Finishing up, he began scrubbing his body and hair clean. Continuously, he plunged his body back under and came back up to begin washing his body once more. After thirty minutes of repeating the process, he was satisfied enough that he no longer reeked of sex any longer. Casually, he walked back out of the water and shook his body off, flinging water all over the area. Satisfied he had shook enough off, he slipped his pants and boots back on and retied his obi sash while replacing Ketsaiga into the sash.

Fingering the ribbon he had tied to Ketsaiga for a moment, he plopped down onto the ground and closed his eyes while he felt the texture. In his mind, he felt the memories of the past swimming around in his mind that was associated with the ribbon he held. The memory of him specifically receiving the ribbon popped up, filling his mind with the events.

He had just returned from a training session with Sesshomaru and had arrived back at the Western Stronghold. It had been a few months before his first heat, so him and Kaia were still good friends. He had returned to the Stronghold and found Kaia working with her mother. Upon finding the two, he saw that they were trying to carry a heavy set of barrels, so he offered his help. The two had grudgingly accepted, prompting him to begin helping them. It had been rather windy that day, with the three of them being outside and his butt length hair constantly flew up into his face, making it difficult to see.

Chuckling at his situation, Kaia finally stopped him and had him set the barrels down onto the ground. Pulling the ribbon free from her own hair, she tied his own into a ponytail, much like how his older brother and father wore. She had even gone as far as to comment that he looked quite handsome with his hair pulled back, making the half demon blush at such a comment.

Reopening his eyes, he glanced down at the worn ribbon and sadly smiled. "She was so happy back then." he mumbled.

Closing his hand around the ribbon, he closed his eyes and images of the night of his first heat raced through his mind. Quickly snapping his eyes open, he heavily sighed and placed his hands over his face. "_Kaia, I'm so sorry..._"

Slipping his hands off his face, he slowly stood and glanced in the direction of the cave that he had left Lilly. Retying his hair, he turned and began slowly moving in the direction of the cave, but stopped after a moment.

"_How can I face Lilly after what I did to her last night? Will she be like Kaia and hate me for what happened?_"

Clenching his fists tightly, Iya began to turn away. "_I couldn't take it if Lilly hated me for what happened. I care deeply about Lilly, but she may hate me for what I did. I shouldn't have given in!_"

"_I care for you deeply Iya, and I want to help you the only way I know how. So please, accept my help. Allow me to take away this heat for you. If it is the only thing I can do for you, I will gladly do it._"

Hearing the words Lilly had said ringing in his mind, he stopped in mid-turn. Still clenching his fists tightly, he glanced back towards the direction of the cave once more and heavily sighed. With his sigh, he turned towards the direction of the cave and began walking towards it once more.

"_Even though I unintentionally marked her, I have a responsibility to her. I made a promise to save her from Kenshin and to protect her, and I won't break my promise to her, no matter what._" he silently vowed.

Arriving at the cave after a few minutes of walking, he slipped in quietly to find Lilly was still sleeping. She was buried deep within his kimono top, seemingly seeking his missing warm body. Slightly smiling at the sight of her, he felt guilt coursing through him when he realized he had to wake her.

Kneeling beside of the sleeping half neko, he gently cupped her cheek and then moved his hand to her shoulder. Gently, he shook her, earning him a response of her burrowing herself deeper into his kimono top. Lightly smiling at her movement, he gently shook her once more. This time, he heard her mumble something incoherently and stir slightly, but after a moment she once more burrowed into the covers again. Again shaking her, this time, her eyes slowly fluttered open and she turned to face him with drowsy emerald orbs.

Softly smiling at her, Iya quietly said "Good morning."

"Good morning." she mumbled while yawning and revealing her fangs. Sitting up and knocking the kimono top off of her chest, she asked "Are you feeling well this morning?"

Blushing due that her chest was exposed, Iya averted his eyes quickly, but not before noticing several claw marks on her chest. Picking up on his discomfort, Lilly glanced down and noted that his kimono top was the only covering she had on and that she was still nude. Blush quickly covered her own cheeks while she immediately pulled the top up to cover her chest.

Turning away, Iya mumbled "Go ahead and put my top on so you'll have something to wear till you get cleaned up."

"Oh, thanks." she softly replied.

Standing up, she pulled the kimono top close to her body and tied it shut with the excess of it. It came down to around her mid-thigh in length, giving her plenty of covering and mobility.

Hearing her finishing up with tying shut the top, he glanced back at her and saw claw marks marring her legs where the hem of the kimono landed. Feeling a backwash of guilt traveling through is mind, he turned his gaze away from her.

Making a motion towards her, he quietly said "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"Right." Lilly agreed while moving to where her clothing sat. While she gathered her own clothing, Iya picked up his inner kimono top that the pair had slept on and put it back on.

Turning and finding Lilly ready, he led the way out of the cave to the stream he had visited earlier, but found a different spot for her to clean up in further upstream. At last, he found a calm spot and motioned for Lilly where it was.

"This should do for you, I hope." Iya commented while turning away from her. "I'll keep guard nearby, so go ahead."

Not even having a moment to thank him, Lilly saw that the half dog demon was already retreating into the wood line. Lightly sighing, she undressed and waded into the water without a word. Glancing over her body while in the water, she saw the numerous claw marks on her hips, with a few also on her breasts and shoulders. Looking at her reflection in the water, she saw several places he had nipped at her neck, but one spot stood out from the rest.

Eyeing it closely, she determined that he had bitten her a little harder than the other spots for some reason. Shrugging, she dipped a cloth she had brought from her kimono with her into the water and began running it over her body. The scent of sex was strong on her skin, which did, but didn't bother her at the same time. She could also smell Iya's scent heavily on her own body, seemingly coating her in it and mixing with her own.

"_His scent smells so good. I wish I didn't have to wash it off, but the others will be really suspicious if I don't, and I don't need to add any kind of trouble like that to Iya. I'm sure he has enough on his mind already._"

Dipping down into the water, Lilly dunked herself under. Coming up a moment later for fresh air, she shook her hair out, allowing it to send water in every direction. Running the cloth over her body once more, she scrubbed herself till she could no longer find the scent of sex, but still could smell Iya's scent on her skin. Confused, she heavily sighed and dunked herself again. Several times she repeated the process, but finally found she couldn't get rid of his scent.

Letting out a strangled growl in defeat, she trudged out of the water and back onto the bank. Slipping into her clothing, she retied her kimono top shut and replaced Kimi into her obi sash. Placing a hand on the hilt for a long moment, the memory of the vision she had in the early morning hours replayed in her mind.

She had actually managed to talk with her sword's spirit, and found that Kimi was as Asami had said it would be: lazy. After communing with the spirit for a few hours, Lilly had finally managed to get the sword to agree to help her in training to use it. The sword even went as far as to say that it would teach her to call out it's real name. Kimi was it's proper name, but the sword had a second name, one it was born with that it had hidden and Asami had found out. Instead of using that name, she had used the name that Urahara had told Inutaisho instead.

Shaking herself from the memory, she sighed heavily. "_I wish Iya could have met his mother. She said that she wanted to, but she can't yet, that he must forgive himself of what he has done. I didn't understand really what she meant, but I think I'm beginning to see now what she was saying. She can't appear to him till he forgives himself for what happened with Kaia. He blames himself for something that couldn't be helped, and my heart hurts to think that he's in pain because of that._"

Glancing back at the stream, she felt her eyes beginning to become glassy. "_And then there is what happened last night. I know he feels he was wrong and that he shouldn't have had that night with me, but I don't regret it. I only hope he learns to accept that what I did was of my own free will, of my own choice. I want to be with him, no matter the consequences._"

Hearing rustling nearby, she glanced over her shoulder and saw that Iya was standing on the edge of the forest. He looked in her direction for a moment, only to avert his eyes and not meet her gaze when she turned to look at him.

"I thought I smelled you crying and came to check on you." he mumbled slightly.

Sadly smiling, she moved forward and reached out to take his hand into her own, only to not find his while he turned and began walking away.

"We need to find the others." he calmly said while retreating from her.

Watching his retreating figure, Lilly felt her heart twist in pain. Deciding to follow and not say anything, she fell in behind him. "_Iya, I know you're hurting so much. I want to help you, I want to help take that pain away and fill it with happy memories, but you won't let me help. Will you open up to me eventually? I only hope._"

--

Arriving back at camp in less than an hour, the pair found that Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting in a tree, seemingly relaxing. On the ground, underneath another tree, Orihime was tending to Ichigo, who was unconscious.

"What happened to him?" Iya asked, earning him the attention of the entire group.

Standing up, Orihime turned towards Iya and let out a small sigh. "I found him in the forest last night knocked out. He was a bloody mess and lying in a large crater. I'd say his training got a little out of hand from the looks of him."

"I see. At least he's still alive." Iya commented.

Hearing both Kagome and Inuyasha hit the ground near him, Iya glanced over towards the pair while they approached himself and Lilly. Both stopped when they had moved before himself and an eerie silence filled the air till Inuyasha finally broke it.

"Where the hell were you two all day and night yesterday?" he grunted out.

Glancing at his brother with an unreadable expression, Iya softly replied "I was not well, so I decided to stop. Lilly found me later on and took care of me."

"What in the seven hells could have been wrong with you!? You're a half demon, so you shouldn't get sick!" Inuyasha angrily spat.

Casting a glare at his brother, Iya sharply replied "Inuyasha, I was not well, so drop it."

"I can't because we lost half a day of traveling! What if we don't make it thanks to you!? What then Iya!? Did you even think that for once that we might have needed to continue on…"

"Inuyasha, that's enough." Kagome interrupted while moving before the fuming half demon. Placing a gentle hand on his chest, she added "We'll make it, so don't yell at Iya. If it was bad enough that he had to stop, then I believe him."

Growling lowly, Inuyasha glanced into his mate's honey colored eyes for a moment before turning his head away. Stuffing his hands into his sleeves, he muttered "Feh."

Lightly sighing at his action, Kagome turned back towards Iya and Lilly, saying "In any case, I suppose we should head out."

"Yes, you're right about that, Kagome." Iya confirmed. Moving towards Ichigo, he came to a stop a foot away from the quarter bobcat. "Orihime, he's not going to wake for a while, is he?"

"No, he probably won't for a while." Orihime replied in a downtrodden voice. Moving to Ichigo's side, she lifted him up and slung him over her shoulder. "I'll carry him."

"You don't have to do that." Iya commented. "I'll gladly carry…"

Shaking her head, Orihime slightly smiled and replied "It's alright, I'll carry him."

Nodding in response, Iya turned and said "Very well then, let's get going."

--

Around midday, the group finally came to a stop, with Orihime gently setting Ichigo down onto the ground to rest. Inuyasha and Kagome took to a tree, with Kagome leaning back against Inuyasha to rest in his arms. Iya walked off, leaving the young half neko to walk over and take a seat next to Orihime.

Glancing at the two half dog demons in the nearby tree, Orihime judged that she was far away enough and leaned closer to Lilly. In a low whisper, she asked "How are you feeling today? Are you sore?"

"Sore?" Lilly questioned with a frown.

"Down below silly. I know he had to be a little rough."

Blushing furiously, Lilly mumbled "Oh, uh, a little bit."

"Did he hurt you very badly? If he did, I can heal…"

Shaking her head quickly, Lilly interrupted and replied "No, I'm fine. The marks on my body were already healing on their own this morning, so don't worry about it."

"Alright." Orihime softly said. With a small smile, she asked with a small gleam of mischief in her eyes "How was he?"

Frowning, Lilly asked "What do you mean?"

"I mean was he a lot of fun? Did you even enjoy yourself at all?" Orihime questioned.

Blushing deeply once more, Lilly looked away. Lightly chuckling at the embarrassed half neko, Orihime warmly said "I'm just playing Lilly. That information is personal to you and Iya alone."

"Thanks…" Lilly muttered with still flushed cheeks.

Grinning at the neko, Orihime glanced back down at the unconscious quarter bobcat. She began to reach forward to caress his cheek, but stopped herself when she heard him slightly moan. Brown eyes flickered open after a moment. They were unfocused, but finally they seemed to take note of his surroundings.

"Where am I" he questioned softly.

Slightly smiling, Orihime replied "About time you woke up sleepy head. We moved away from camp earlier today."

"Oh…" Ichigo mumbled. Brow furrowing, he asked "How long was I out?"

Tapping her chin for a moment, Orihime replied "I found you last night a few hours after midnight, so if I had to guess, probably almost ten or so hours."

"Great…" he grunted out in response.

Hearing a small giggle, the quarter bobcat looked to Orihime's side to see Lilly sitting next to her. Slightly smiling, he softly said "I see you and Iya managed to make it through the night."

Instantly, the half neko turned a deep shade of crimson from embarrassment. Chuckling lightly, he smartly added "Glad to see you came out seemingly unscathed."

"Yeah…" Lilly mumbled.

Weakly, Ichigo began sitting up, only to have a gentle hand push him back down onto his back. "No Ichigo, you shouldn't get up yet. You're still very weak." Orihime sharply remarked with concern reflecting in her eyes.

About to grunt out something, Ichigo stopped and bit his lip. Sighing, he muttered "I'll rest a little longer then."

"Thank you." Orihime murmured under her breath.

--

Sitting in a tree a mile from the others, Iya heavily sighed. Closing his eyes, he saw images of the night before flashing through his mind, then an image of finding the mark he had placed on her in the morning.

Opening his eyes slightly, he looked down at his clawed hands for a moment before clenching one and slamming it into the trunk of the tree, causing several splinters of wood to go flying out of the tree while the entire structure shook.

"_Damn it, why in the hell did I have to go and do that!? It was bad enough that I allowed her to help me work my heat off, but I had to go and do something stupid like that too!_"

Hearing something approaching rapidly, Iya glanced to his side to see a disgusting looking orange skinned lizard demon with a pair of tattered wings, sharp clawed hands and feet, a tail, and sharp fangs protruding from it's muzzle, flying towards him from a nearby tree.

"Happy day, I found some dinner!" the demon declared while snapping it's jaws open and closed.

Casting an uninterested look at the demon, Iya moved at the last second as the demon slashed out at him, who instead hit the tree. Landing on a limb below where he had been sitting, Iya looked up at the demon and said in an icy tone "I'd advise you to leave now. I'm in a foul mood and you'd best to heed my words."

"How dare you attempt to order me around, half breed!" the demon spat out. "I will kill you and eat you up!"

Leaping from it's branch, the demon soared towards Iya while readying it's claws to tear through him. Without hesitation, Iya placed two fingers together and released his blue laser energy whip at the oncoming demon. The whip tore through the demon quickly, slicing off it's left arm and wing, causing the demon to howl out in pain while it fell to the ground with a large thud.

Landing on the ground a few feet away from the bleeding demon, Iya icily said "I warned you to leave."

Glaring at Iya, the demon slowly stood up and angrily snarled loudly while charging at the half dog demon. Not even showing a sign of emotion, Iya lashed out once more with his blue energy whip and plunged it through the demon's right arm. Retracting it, he flung it once more and cut off the demon's head as well, making the demon scream out before turning to dust.

"Fool, you could have lived if you had left." Iya coldly remarked while walking away from the remains of the demon.

--

Returning to the group, Iya found that Ichigo was awake. Walking over to where the quarter bobcat was laying, Iya smirked and said "Good to see you're back among us."

"Good to be awake again." Ichigo smartly remarked.

Glancing around at the rest of the group, although avoiding eye contact with Lilly, Iya said "Let's move out. We should nearly catch up with the mages today."

Feeling slightly hurt that Iya had avoided eye contact with her, Lilly nodded with the others. A few moments later, the group was once more running along in formation, with Iya leading the way, Kagome and Inuyasha following him, and Ichigo, Orihime, and Lilly in the rear of the group.

--

At long last, the group finally stopped for the night at dark. Iya volunteered to go hunt, but said alone when Lilly began to volunteer.

Watching the retreating figure of the half dog demon, Lilly felt her ears droop and eyes beginning to well up with tears. Sniffling slightly, she sucked them back so the others wouldn't worry.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Lilly heard a voice ask "Lilly, are you alright?"

Turning to find it was Kagome, Lilly feigned a smile and replied "I'm fine. Just something in my eyes."

"Ok…" Kagome remarked with a saddened look. "If something is bothering you though…"

"It's nothing Kagome." Lilly said with a sad smile. "Don't trouble yourself over it."

Nodding in reply, Kagome turned away, leaving the half neko. Deciding to not sit on the ground, she leapt into a nearby tree and sat down onto a branch. Glancing down into the camp the group had set up, she saw Orihime had begun a fire while Ichigo sat close by, seemingly just staring into it. Scanning the camp, she saw that Kagome and Inuyasha were no longer with the group.

"_I guess they went to train, or get some alone time._" Lilly mused.

Frowning, her thoughts turned towards Iya and his behavior. "_I wonder why he won't look at me, more or less talk to me. Did my helping him relieve his heat affect him that badly? I knew he may not react well to my help, but it's like he is purposely staying away from me, like he's afraid to even approach me for some reason._"

Sighing, the half neko demon glanced off into the distance in which Iya had disappeared into earlier. "_Iya, I want to be with you and help you, but I can't if you keep avoiding me. Please, let me help you like you've helped me._"

--

After thirty minutes, Iya finally returned with several fish. Handing them over to Ichigo, Iya turned and began walking out of camp, prompting Ichigo to ask "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry." Iya dryly remarked. "Go on and eat."

With that, the half dog demon left camp once more. Once out of camp, he broke into a run and put a few miles between himself and the others. Finding that he was alone, he leapt up into a tree and settled in for the night.

Closing his eyes, he heavily sighed and leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree. "_I'm sorry Lilly, but I can't be near you right now. After what I've done to you, I'm afraid that you'll see me as nothing more than a monster._"

Cracking his eyes open, he added "_Besides, I need to ready myself for the battle tomorrow. It will be a fierce one, that is for sure. Kenshin and Kurama aren't too far ahead. I can feel it in my bones. It'll probably take half a day to arrive at their location._"

Once more closing his eyes, he felt his body slowly slipping into a light slumber while his senses were still at full alert.

--

Upon finishing dinner, Ichigo left camp to go train like always. After warming up for thirty minutes, the quarter bobcat got ready to begin his training when suddenly he sensed a new presence.

Finding it immediately in the form of Lilly, he frowned and asked "Why are you out here Lilly? Something wrong?"

Shaking her head and softly smiling, she shyly said "I actually came to ask a favor of you, if you don't mind."

"A favor?" Ichigo asked with a frown. "What is it?"

Sweetly smiling, she replied "I want you to help me with some personal training that I have. You see, I learned something about my sword, Kimi. It's a sword that was built by Urahara, and like your sword, it has a spirit within it. I want to know, if you can help me in unlocking it's power."

A little shocked, Ichigo's brow furrowed even more when he asked "How do you know your sword was created by Urahara? I thought that sword was Iya's mother's former sword?"

"It was, but I had a dream..." Pausing for a moment, Lilly glanced around and found no one else was nearby. Pushing on, she said "Promise me that you won't say a word about what I'm about to tell you."

"Is it that secret?" the quarter bobcat asked with a scowl.

Sighing slightly, Lilly mumbled "I don't want Iya to find out, that's all."

Letting out a heavy sigh himself, Ichigo nodded and replied "Alright, I promise. Now, what is this about?"

"Alright, last night, after Iya and I fell asleep, I had a dream. In it, I spoke to Iya's mother, Asami."

Seeing the bobcat had questions, she held her hand up, saying "Let me finish first. Anyways, it was an interactive dream. She told me that Kimi was more than it seemed, that it had been created by Urahara. She taught me how to speak with the sword, and how to commune with it's spirit. In the end, I learned to talk with it and learned it's true name."

"So what do you need me for?" Ichigo impatiently asked.

Lightly giggling at his impatience, she replied "I'd like your help in learning to use Kimi's true form. I've not yet tried to release it, and to be honest, I'm unsure if I can do it. Still, I want to try, and you're the only one who can really help me train."

Thinking for a minute, Ichigo finally spoke up, asking "Why haven't you asked Iya for help?"

Averting her eyes, Lilly's right hand clung to her left shoulder when she replied with "I didn't want to bother him. Besides, I haven't told him about this yet."

Looking back up at the bobcat, she added "I want this to be a surprise. I'll be able to better protect myself once I finish this training. Please Ichigo, help me with this."

Staring at the half neko for a few long moments, Ichigo finally let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll do whatever I can to help you, alright?"

Smiling brightly, she said "Thank you!"

"Just don't think I'll go easy on you." he commented with a stern look. "My style of training is much different from Iya's, alright. You're going to have to work hard at it."

Nodding in reply, she seriously said "Right. I will do what it takes to master Kimi."

"Good. Then let's get started."

--

Relaxing in the arms of her mate, Sango breathed in Miroku's scent and closed her eyes from the pure bliss his scent brought to her. "_I could just live off of his scent alone if I had to._"

"I wonder how the others are faring in their search for the mages." Miroku mumbled softly, making Sango crack open her eyes to look up at him.

Thinking for a moment, she finally replied "I hope they've already killed the mages. I'd hate to think something would happen to Kagome or Lilly."

Feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes over the thought of losing Kagome, she whimpered out "Life wouldn't be the same without Kagome. It seems so unfair that this whole mess happened."

Kissing the top of Sango's head, Miroku tightened his grip around her waist and whispered "Now now mate, don't cry. I'm sure Kagome and Lilly will be fine. After all, they have Iya, Inuyasha, Ichigo, and Orihime, and you know that Inuyasha would never allow anything to happen to Kagome. He'd die before letting Kurama take her away."

"I know, I just hope it doesn't come down to that." she muttered with a sniffle.

Reaching up to Sango's face, the half red fox softly wiped away her tears and said "Have faith in them Sango. We just have to believe in them, and hope that they return to us."

Melting into his touch, she sadly smiled and nodded her head. Kissing the top of her head once more, he added "Besides, I don't think we have to worry about them. Iya knows these mages better than any of us, and he promised to do everything within his power to stop them. I believe him, so I think we have nothing to worry about."

"I hope you're right." the half silver fox mumbled with a small sigh. "I just wish things could return to normal. After all, we just defeated Naraku and now this mess came up. Sometimes I wonder if any of us will ever have a happy life."

Lightly chuckling, Miroku buried his nose into Sango's hair and remarked "Normal is too boring."

"I suppose." she chuckled back.

Relaxing against Miroku once more, Sango closed her eyes and breathed in his calming scent once more. Noting she was calming a bit, Miroku yawned and snuggled up against his mate. "Good night mate. I love you." he whispered.

In a mumble, she replied "Love you too…"


	46. Chapter 45: Long Awaited Fight, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, things are going pretty good for me. I made it back to work on Monday, and things went well enough, although I found out I have a lot of things to do, hehe. Other than that, life has been pretty cool. Not much too really say on it, so I'll move along.**

**Writing wise, I'm working hard to work on this story, but with limited time, it's hard to find a while to write. Of course, once I do find time, I somehow or another get distracted, lol. Anyways, I am trying to get more wrote on this story so I don't have to keep posting only one chapter a week, but unfortunately, at the moment, it looks like it may be that way. We'll see for sure soon enough I suppose. Btw, for those who want to know, the day I'll post will be Wednesday. I know, it's mid-week, but it was that or Friday, and doing it on Friday just seemed silly for some reason. Don't ask why, lol.**

**Ok, moving along, time for reviews!**

**2****nd**** L (Ryuuk since he was filling in): Heh, nice to meet you, whoever you're representing. I've always wondered how hard it would be to have that many identities as 2****nd**** L has. It has to get a little confusing, lol. True, if Kenshin's sword is a ****zanpakutō and he has achieved Bankai, there is no way in hell Iya and Ichigo will stand a chance, possibly. But let's not forget, Toshiro had a Bankai and Iya killed him. Kenshin also is not a founding member of The Thirteen, so he may not be as strong as Toshiro was, but it's also possible that Kenshin is far stronger too. So many possibilities for what could happen, hehe. Hmm, you're an interesting one, that's for sure Ryuuk. (/Tosses him an apple.\) Eat up while I go talk with your friend. Thanks for the review!**

**Shiro: Ah, Ichigo's hollow at last. I wondered when you'd show up. You can't blame a guy for ignoring you too much I suppose. LOL! Yes, I figured you'd be a bit agitated and saddened if you weren't included. You may get in, we'll just have to see. At this point and time, I had not thought about it, but again, we'll see about it. That is a nice idea on how you would make your appearance, but at this moment, I'll just say I'll think about it. Lol, yes, back into Ichigo's head and out of the reviews! (/Watches fight ensuing, destroying 2****nd**** L's room completely while Misa cheers on for Ichigo.\) And I thought I had weird people in my life… Thanks for the review, and good luck with that fight.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, yes, Iya is a typical male I suppose. But he has his reasons (excuses) for hiding from Lilly. About like how Inuyasha always had his reasons (excuses) for hiding his feelings from Kagome. Heh, yes, I didn't have Kagome "sit" Inuyasha this time either. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: Why hello, and welcome to the reviews. Thanks for adding this story to your favs, and for your review.**

**kattana: Heh, yeah, the other group is still alive and moving. True, Iya is mistreating Lilly, but like Mitsukai pointed out, he's being a typical male and running from his problems rather than face them. Eh, as for the scent thing, true, I should have made mention of that, but I figured they were more concerned with what was coming up and with Ichigo being passed out, lol. True, Iya is a good guy, and he'll make things right between himself and Lilly. Just at the moment, like I said, he's not seemingly ready to face her. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all five of you, for your reviews! I truly appreciate all of them. Heh, that's the second time I've had five reviews, which is tying a high on another chapter (40). That means a lot, so thank you, all of you for your reviews once more. Your reviews help a lot in how I write due that all of you provide very helpful comments and opinions. So, once again, thank you, all of you for your reviews. And to anyone who hasn't reviewed yet, but has opinions or comments, please, don't be shy and tell me what you're thinking. I don't bite (or very hard, so my mate says), hehe.**

**Well, that's it for this session. Thank you, all of you again. I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 45**

Slowly cracking his muddy brown eyes open, Iya stretched his lean body and glanced at the horizon, seeing that the sun was rising. Standing up from his perch on the limb, he leapt out of the tree and began searching the air for the scent of water. Finding the scent of sulfur in the air, he headed off in the direction of it.

Arriving at a hot spring, he glanced around the area with his ears swiveling in different directions. Finding no odd scents in the area, or any demonic auras, Iya stripped out of his clothing and let his hair down. Cautiously, he began wading into the water and finally sank down onto a nearby stone, allowing the warm water to rush up to his shoulders.

Letting out a small sigh, Iya dunked his head under into the steamy water. Coming up for air a moment later, he shook his hair out, allowing it to fan out onto the water. Settling down into the water once more, Iya took a deep breath and rested the back of his head up against a rock.

Glancing up into the early morning sky, Iya saw the darkness slowly lifting and giving way to light. "_It is always darkest before the dawn._" he mused within his mind.

Without warning, the image of a familiar half neko popped into his mind. Closing his eyes, he allowed for a moment the images of the night the pair had spent together to resurface, only to quickly snap his eyes open and shake his head, sending small waves of water throughout the hot spring.

"No, I can't begin to get lost in those kinds of thoughts." he mumbled with a touch of irritation. "If I let my feelings be in the way, they'll make me fight sloppily, and I can't afford that right now, no matter how much I desire to be with her."

Casting his gaze down at the water, he mumbled within his mind "_Besides, she wouldn't want to be with me after I mistreated her like I did during my heat. She couldn't possibly ever forgive me for that night._"

Dunking his head underwater once more, he came up and shook his hair out again and began wading out of the water. Reaching his clothing, he shook himself roughly, sending water flying in every direction. Pulling his hair back into it's usual ponytail, he quickly dressed. Upon placing Ketsaiga back on his hip, he turned and began walking away from where he had just bathed and headed back for camp.

--

Waking to the scent of the early morning dew, Lilly slowly sat up, but lightly winced upon doing so. "_Damn, I feel so sore and tired still. Training with Ichigo is most definitely more difficult than training with Iya._"

Weakly opening her emerald eyes, she glanced around camp and saw that Ichigo was sleeping in a nearby tree, with Orihime sleeping underneath of it. Lightly smiling at the pair, she slowly stood up and felt her legs wobble a bit. Using her tail to keep her balance, she managed to fully stand and noted that Kagome and Inuyasha were in another tree close by, with each sleeping still.

Seeing the sun wasn't up yet, she crept silently out of camp and headed towards a nearby stream she had found the night before. Arriving, she stretched out with her senses and began searching for any danger. Finding none at last, she decided to go ahead and slip out of her clothes. Laying them near the bank of the stream, she quietly walked into the water and slightly shivered at the feel of the cold water on her skin.

Going out till she was finally waist deep in the water, she sank down into it and ignored the neko half of her mind that was screaming out for her to leave the water. "_It's so silly of me to hate water. I've always enjoyed it, but my neko blood hates it. What a lovely combination..._"

Dunking her head under the water, she came back up and shivered when the cool morning air hit her skin. Deciding to hurry up and get out, she began scrubbing her body over with a cloth she had brought in with her. While running the cloth over her body, she noted that all the scratches that had been there the day before that Iya had left on her were completely healed over, with exception of the one on her neck.

Brow furrowing at the look of the bite mark, she lightly sighed. "_I guess it's deeper than I thought originally. He must have really bit down hard onto me._"

Finishing her bath, she dunked her body once more under the cool water. Coming out once more, she began wading towards the bank while hugging her arms to her body for heat. Reaching the bank, she shook her body off, sending water droplets all over the area nearby. Dressing quickly, she instantly felt her clothing giving her some heat, making her stop shivering.

Taking a seat on the ground, Lilly pulled her legs up to her chest to help return more heat to her body and rested her head upon her knees while securing her hands around her legs.

"_Today is my last day... I don't know if I should be scared or not._"

Closing her eyes, she leaned her face into her legs and sighed. The words of Asami from two nights before instantly popped into her mind. "_Do you have so little faith in my son?_"

A moment later, her later again echoed through Lilly's mind, saying "_You have nothing to fear. Iya swore to protect you, and my son shall keep his word, I know it._"

Opening her eyes once more, Lilly softly smiled. "_No, I know I have nothing to be scared of with Iya. I trust him with my life, and I know he won't let me down. He'll do whatever it takes to save me. He swore to me that he would even give his life to save me, but I have no intentions of letting him do that. I care too much about Iya to let him sacrifice himself._"

Standing up, she smoothed out her skirt and saw that the sun was at last over the horizon in the sky. Walking back towards camp, she lightly smiled to herself.

"_No matter what, I have no regrets about what happened with Iya. I was so lucky to get to know him, and to be able to help him through his difficult time._"

--

Running along, Iya lead the group in the direction of northwest at a quick pace. When he had returned to the group that morning, he found all were awake, but Lilly had been missing at the time. He had started to go search for her when she reappeared out of the woods with a few rabbits in hand. The group had quickly eaten breakfast, with Iya refusing to meet Lilly's gaze at all.

"_I'm sorry Lilly, but I just can't become entangled with my emotions right now._" Iya grunted in his mind. "_Besides, she wouldn't want to be with me. Not now..._"

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he focused in on their location. "_We've been running for quite a while and it's midday now, so we should be close. I'm starting to see the landmarks that I recognized originally, so the mages shouldn't be too much further._"

Sniffing the air, Iya lightly growled upon finding two faint, but familiar scents. "_That's definitely Kenshin and Kurama's scents. They're still around close by I bet._"

Glancing back, Iya noted that Ichigo had yet to catch the faint scent of Kenshin, nor had Inuyasha or Kagome picked up Kurama's scent. "_I must remember that their noses aren't as sensitive as my own. I suppose I need to warn them._"

"Guys, can you smell that?"

Noting the others were sniffing the air now, Iya watched as anger appeared on most of the group's face, accept Orihime, who seemed emotionless at the moment.

"It's them." Ichigo bit out with a growl. "Finally, we've caught up."

Nodding in reply over his shoulder, Iya glanced back ahead and said "Yes, it seems so. At least they've been in the area very recently. The scents are faint, but not less than a day old, that's for sure."

With that said, silence enveloped the group once more while continuing to follow the trails of the mages, with each lost in their own thoughts of the upcoming battle.

For four hours, the group remained this way, with all of them moving along rather quickly while the scents of the mages grew stronger.

At long last, Iya growled deeply and said "I can smell them close by. They're in the next clearing, I'm sure of it. I can sense them too."

"Good, it's about time." Inuyasha impatiently grumbled.

"You said it." Ichigo added. "Iya, let's just not forget, Kenshin is mine."

Throwing a glance over his shoulder at the quarter bobcat, Iya slightly nodded and replied "Right, he's all yours. Just make sure to finish him quickly so we can save Lilly."

"No problem." Ichigo smugly remarked.

Returning their attention forward, the group raced onwards till they finally came upon an open clearing. There were many stumps, showing signs that the area had recently been cleared of it's trees, while some trees still remained standing in the area. In the middle of the clearing stood two figures in dark robes, each with their hoods removed, revealing each had red hair.

Arriving fifteen feet away from the two figures, Iya signaled for the group to stop, which they instantly did. Looking towards the group, the two figures eyed each carefully.

Without warning, the one mage with violet eyes smiled and glanced towards his comrade, saying "Looks like you owe me a case of sake now Kurama."

"I suppose." Kurama muttered with a heavy sigh.

Glaring at the two mages, Ichigo growled out "What was that!?"

Lightly chuckling at Ichigo's response, Kenshin replied "I should clarify I suppose. You see, Kurama here made a wager with me, that he did. He bet me a case of sake that your group wouldn't make it here before my half neko became mine, but I took up the bet that you six would. And it looks like I was right to bet on you six, that I was."

Frowning lightly, Kurama added "I see that Kimimaro failed to kill any of you. That is a real shame."

"Why did you send that bone demon?" Iya calmly questioned.

In an emotionless tone, Kurama replied "He wished to prove his worth. Over the years, he has been rather effective and efficient at doing our bidding. When we learned that Byakuya's slave failed to capture our slaves, we dispatched Kimimaro."

"He was rather skilled, that he was." Kenshin commented. "He was strong enough to spar with ourselves, but not quite strong enough to win one of those sparing matches."

"SCREW THIS!" Inuyasha shouted out while charging forward towards the mages. With only five feet between himself and the mages, he drew Tetsusaiga, causing the sword to transform instantly. Slamming the blade onto the ground, he yelled out "WIND SCAR!"

Instantly, a claw shaped beam of white energy went racing forward towards the two mages, who seemed unaffected by Inuyasha's attack. The blasts were about to slam into them when suddenly a sphere shaped barrier of red appeared around each mage. Racing onwards, the blast slammed into the two barriers, only to fizzle out after a moment.

Leaping backwards till he was next to the others, Inuyasha lowly growled with irritation while the dust settled from his attack. The twin barriers soon fell, revealing the mages with Kurama smirking.

Glancing at his partner, Kurama smartly said "Looks like you owe me a case of sake now Kenshin. It seems we're even."

"I suppose so, that we are." Kenshin remarked with a heavy sigh. "I didn't think the half dog would attack first. I was banking on the quarter bobcat to give way to his anger first."

Lightly growling, Ichigo snapped out "I wouldn't give you that kind of pleasure."

"We'll see." Kenshin remarked. Casting a glance at his partner, he asked in a low voice "Is it not time for you to leave?"

Nodding slightly, Kurama quietly replied "True, it is that time. Good luck with your battle. We'll meet back up in a few days at the usual spot."

"Right." Kenshin shortly remarked. "No need to worry. I will destroy them, that I will."

With a silent nod, the fox demon turned away from his partner and took off running into the wood line. Seeing this, Inuyasha snarled out "Damn you, get back here!"

Seeing the mage ignored him, he instantly went running to Kagome and grabbed hold of her hand, quickly saying "Let's go Kagome! We have to chase him down and beat him!"

Immediately, she nodded and fiercely replied "Right!"

Watching the two mates run off after the fox demon, Orihime glanced between their vanishing figures and Ichigo. "_I can't let those two take that mage on alone. Kurama is a powerful plant mage, and they won't be much of a match for him. My powers maybe able to help them. Iya and Ichigo have this battle covered, that much I'm sure of, so I guess I'll just help Kagome and Inuyasha._"

"I'm going with them." she finally spoke up, earning her a small glance from Ichigo. With a slight smile, she replied "Don't worry, I'll keep those two safe. Take care guys, and good luck."

With her words said, the bobcat mage took off running after the pair of half dog demons, who were chasing the fox demon, leaving behind Iya, Ichigo, and Lilly with the Kenshin. The three stared down Kenshin for a few long moments till Kenshin broke the silence with dark laughter.

"I knew that mage would go with them. That makes our battle a little more even, I suppose." Kenshin commented.

"We'll see about that." Ichigo declared. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he pulled on it, causing the bandages covering it's blade to release it from his back. Pointing the large cleaver blade at Kenshin, he said in a determined voice "You're going down today for all your crimes Kenshin. I've waited twenty-five years to put an end to you, and today is the day it happens."

Darkly chuckling, Kenshin loosened his black robe and slid it off, revealing a pink kimono top with flowing sleeves, white baggy pants with a white obi, and a sword with a black braided hilt in a black sheath.

In a calm voice, Kenshin mockingly said "Yes, I suppose it is time we ended this fruitless chase of yours, that it is. I have allowed you to live for far too long."

"Don't forget about me Kenshin." Iya interjected while placing a hand on Ketsaiga's hilt. "My mission is to rid this world of all you mages. Each of you will pay for your crimes in the end."

"My my, someone sure is confident, aren't they?" Kenshin smartly asked. "This after two-hundred-fifty years of chasing us and having so little success."

"It's only been that long due that none of you have had the backbone to stand your ground and fight me." Iya icily remarked. "But don't worry about it, for after today, there will be one less mage in this world to chase after. And once we finish you off, Lilly will be free."

Smirking, Kenshin remarked "Assuming you can beat me."

With his words said, Kenshin raised his hands before his body and extended his index and middle fingers on each hand. Forming a cross with the four fingers, he calmly said "This should be fun. I haven't used this spell in a long time. Katon Bushin!"

Springing up from the ground without warning were six towers of flames. The towers slowly retracted and shank down into human shapes. After a moment, the flames finally dissipated, revealing six exact Kenshin look-a-likes, with each smiling like the original.

"What the!?" Ichigo growled out while glancing at the seven Kenshins before the group of three. "Damn it Kenshin, quit hiding you coward!"

"I'm not hiding." all seven commented, making Ichigo growl lowly.

Eyeing his partner, Iya calmly said "Ichigo, don't lose your cool."

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo smirked and replied "You're right. So, got a plan?"

"I'll take three of them out, you take the other three out." Iya instructed, earning him a nod from his partner. Glancing over his shoulder at Lilly, he added "Lilly, stay back and out of this battle. Kenshin won't risk harming you, but you shouldn't put yourself in any danger. He's in a whole other league compared to Kimimaro."

"But…" she began, only to be cut off by Iya's firm voice. "But nothing. Kenshin is too much for you to handle. Leave him to us. Just stay back, alright?"

Clenching her right fist, Lilly looked away and muttered "Alright…"

"Good." Iya responded. Returning his gaze to Ichigo, he said "Let's go."

"Right with you!"

Both the half dog demon and quarter bobcat demon went racing forward together, with Ichigo already having drawn his sword. Six of the Kenshins each drew their swords simultaneously and immediately charged forward to meet Iya and Ichigo head on, with three pairing off to fight Iya and three to fight Ichigo.

Reaching his three opponents first, Ichigo slashed out at one of the Kenshin clones, only to be parried by the clone's sword. The other two instantly went in for the killing blow on the young quarter bobcat, only to strike out at thin air while the quarter bobcat had taken to the air to avoid the two. Landing back on the ground a few feet away, Ichigo slashed out at the nearest clone, only to once more be parried while the other two tried to rush him.

Quickly reacting, Ichigo back flipped away from his three opponents and raised his sword up before himself in a ready position. Smirking, he charged forward and lashed out at the first clone, only at the last moment to change his target. The clone next to him had no time to react whenever Ichigo plunged his sword deep into the clone's chest.

"One down." Ichigo snidely remarked.

Gasping in pain, the clone held onto the blade for a moment before smirking himself and saying "Boom."

Instantly, the clone's body exploded, sending out a firestorm. The blast slammed hard into Ichigo, causing him to scream out in pain while being flung backwards onto the ground. Coming to a skidding stop, he glared at the clone and saw that he wasn't truly hurt, but the other two were unharmed as well.

"Great, if I kill them, they explode like bombs. Perfect…" Ichigo grumbled lightly.

--

Across from Ichigo, Iya was dealing with his own three clones, each seemingly more than eager to plunge their swords into the half dog demon. The three attempted to triple team him, but Iya dodged each unsuccessful group attack. Hearing an explosion, Iya glanced over towards Ichigo's way and saw that after the quarter bobcat had killed a clone, it exploded.

"_Hmm, that means it'll be hard to attack them up close. I guess I'll have to use ranged attacks._" he mentally commented.

Seeing a Kenshin clone coming from his left side, Iya quickly took to the air to avoid the attack. Glancing down, he saw all three readying themselves to attack him once more.

With a flick of his wrist, his blue laser whip shot outwards and down towards the three clones. The whip smacked the ground harmlessly, making the three clones back up a bit while Iya descended to the ground. Glancing at each one slowly, he smirked and readied his whips once more.

--

Watching the battle progress, Lilly noted that Iya and Ichigo both were not having too many difficulties with the clones that Kenshin had created.

"_Good, they're doing alright so far. They just have to beat him before the day ends._"

Refocusing her attention on the last Kenshin that was hiding in the background of the battle, she saw that he was performing a series of high speed hand signs. Frowning at that, she eyed him warily and pondered on what he was up to.

Before she could say anything, she heard him say in a booming voice "Sealing Spell, Awaken!"

Without warning, Lilly instantly felt her body pulsate. In her mind, she felt as if a veil of darkness was slowly being pulled over her mind, leaving her shivering from the evil she felt from it.

Feeling she was losing control of her body, she tried to scream, but felt as if she had lost her voice. Suddenly, she felt the familiar pulse of Kimi on her hip. With what little control she felt she had, she gripped the hilt of the sword with her right hand and quickly drew it out. Roughly, she dug the tip of the sword into the ground while falling to one knee. Sweat was pouring off her brow while she clenched her teeth tightly together.

All at once, she felt Kimi pulsate once, sending her some relief and control of her body again. At the same time, she felt something warm on her neck, right at the area where Iya had sank his fangs in during the night of his heat. Not even trying to figure it out, she let out a strangled scream, instantly earning her the attention of both Iya and Ichigo. Each quickly took in the situation and saw what Kenshin was doing.

"_Damn that bastard! The clones were meant to distract us while he went after Lilly! He'll pay for that!_" Iya growled within his mind.

Unleashing both light blue energy whips from each hand, Iya lashed out at the three clones. The first two deflected the whips, but were unable to block whenever suddenly the whips lashed out once more without being retracted. Each instantly exploded in a blaze of flames, leaving the third shielding his face. With the distraction, Iya made quick work of the last clone with his twin whips by easily slicing him in half with both and causing a large explosion of flames to form.

With his three obstacles obliterated, Iya quickly ran towards Lilly and instantly arrived at her side quicker than he thought possible. "Lilly…" he mumbled while gently touching her shoulder.

"It hurts so much…" she panted out weakly.

Glancing over her body, he reached up to the back of her neck and brushed the hair away from it, revealing a glowing red seal that had the image of blazing flames. Brushing her hair back to her backside, he kneeled down next to her, but quickly noticed a glowing blue light on the inside of her collar near the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Curious, he shifted her collar away to reveal the mark he had given her a few days before to be glowing with a bright blue light.

"_What is this!? The mating mark I gave her, it's reacting to his spell. Does that mean the mark is helping protect her, along with Kimi?_"

"Iya… it hurts…"

Glancing down to see Lilly's eyes were shut tightly while she was clenching her teeth, he instantly picked up the scent of salt. Placing a hand onto her cheek, he softly said "Hang in there Lilly. This isn't over yet. Don't leave me, understand?"

Receiving a weak nod, he heard two large explosions. Taking a look in the direction of the explosions, he saw Ichigo running over to him and joining him. Looking down at Lilly, he glanced from her towards Kenshin and back. Growling lowly, he muttered "That bastard…"

"Now is not the time. Apparently Kenshin is trying to take control of her earlier than he should be able to. It must be a spell they made to take slaves quicker, but she's resisting the spell. I think it's due to Kimi." Iya explained.

Taking a small deep breath, he looked back towards Lilly and then to Ichigo, saying "Ichigo, you are going to have to face him alone. I can't leave Lilly alone, not now."

"Heh, we couldn't get you to go near her for the last two days, and now you want to stay with her alone?" the quarter bobcat joked.

Casting a harsh glare at his partner, Iya replied in a clipped tone "Just take care of Kenshin. Can you do that?"

Remaining quiet for a moment while turning towards the red haired mage, Ichigo confidently responded with "You know you shouldn't have to ask such stupid questions. For the last twenty-five years, I've done nothing but prepare myself for this day. Iya, rest assured, I'll stop him. I swear I will. Stay here and protect Lilly. That's your job, you got that!?"

"I do." Iya firmly retorted. "Be careful. Remember, he's strong."

"Don't worry so much. I'm stronger than you think, and I'm ready for this battle. It's time I avenged Rukia, and saved Lilly." Ichigo stated. "Take care of her."

With his final words said, the quarter bobcat raced across the battlefield towards the red haired mage, leaving Iya alone with Lilly. Embracing the half neko softly from the side, Iya cooed to her "Hang in there Lilly. Ichigo will stop him, I promise. He'll do it, so stay strong, just a bit longer."

--

Coming to a skidding halt five feet before Kenshin, Ichigo released a fierce glare at the mage, who only stood perfectly still with his hands still locked in his hand sign. Gripping the hilt of Zangetsu tightly, Ichigo pulled the sword up onto his shoulder.

"So, that's how it's going to be, eh?" Ichigo asked. "You're going to try and take her before it's time. You have a lot of nerve."

Releasing his hand sign at long last, Kenshin smiled innocently and calmly said "She is mine to do with, that she is. You knew that when I marked her with my spell."

"Maybe so, but her time hasn't come yet." Ichigo countered.

Shrugging, the red headed mage retorted with "True, but she is still mine, and I will have her now."

Smirking, Ichigo shifted his sword and said "You'll have to go through me to do that. I swore that I'd stop you, and that's a promise I'll keep."

"Really?" Kenshin questioned while raising a brow. "You think you have what it takes to stop me and avenge your fallen mate?"

Nodding, Ichigo replied "I do. Ever since twenty-five years ago, I've been preparing for this day, for the day I take you down."

Pointing his sword at Kenshin, Ichigo yelled out "Today is the day you pay for the crimes you committed, not just against me, but all those that suffered at your hands!"

Chuckling lightly, Kenshin moved his hand to the hilt of his sword and silently drew it deliberately slowly. With a small grin, he asked "Did it ever occur to you why I let you live on our first meeting twenty-five years ago?"

"What has that got to do with anything!?" Ichigo impatiently asked.

Still smiling while holding his sword in his right hand, Kenshin replied calmly "When I met you, I found myself seeing a reflection of my past life from long ago. Yes, even I, a mage, found love once many years ago. I had a mate, that I did, and was happy with her."

Pausing for a moment, his smile vanished. "Then one day, my mate was out gathering herbs to use when a demon attacked her. She was a full neko demon, but unfortunately, she was unable to defend herself. The demon had attacked her and to got the upper hand before he forced himself upon her and raped her. Once done with her, he slit her throat."

For a moment, Kenshin's eyes flashed from their calm violet color to a red tint. "I found her barely clinging to life that evening. She died in my arms, that she did. Watching her take her final breathe, I felt a part of myself become lost."

"I combed the countryside for weeks till finally I came upon the demon. The loss of my mate had awakened an inner strength within myself that I had never known existed. I crushed him in a single battle with all my might. In the end, he begged for death, but I dragged it out for over a week."

Smiling coldly, he added "His death did not sate my anger though. Not long after that, I met up with the others of The Thirteen. I had always been a skilled mage and swordsman, and for them to ask me to join was flattering. I accepted and learned the spell to take slaves. Still, inside, I always felt an empty feeling that I had not found someone to test my skills against. True, the mages were strong, but I wished to fight with an opponent who had suffered like myself."

"And then I met you." Kenshin remarked with a small smile while his eyes returned to their violet color. "When I fought you that first time, I left you alive on a whim. The second time, I found you had vastly improved, but your mate was to be my slave soon enough. I left you alive in that battle. You may have thought I left you to die, but I knew that you'd survive."

Seeing Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise, Kenshin frowned and added "But I did not anticipate you killing off my slave. When I found you holding her dead body, I was shocked and deeply angered that you would resort to killing your mate. It was then that I realized something."

Smiling once more, Kenshin calmly said "We are alike, you and I. Each of us have suffered terribly at someone's hands. This realization made me determine that if I was right in this assumption, you would be fueled by the pain of loss and grow stronger, and possibly be a true rival to me one day."

"Each time we fought, I saw improvement in you, but each time I was disappointed. The anger and hatred you had for me didn't push you as far as I wished for it to. And now I see that it will never push you to where you need to be."

Heavily sighing, Kenshin remarked "I am truly disappointed to have wasted so much time on you, thinking I would receive a true challenge in the end, but now I can see you will never be a rival to me. Your heart is too weak to be."

Gripping the hilt of Zangetsu tightly, Ichigo bowed his head and hid his eyes in the shadow of his bangs. "Is that a fact? Now that I know what fueled you to keep me alive, I find myself even angrier than before, that this was all some sort of game to you."

Raising his eyes, he furiously yelled "I am not a pawn for you to play games with! I loved Rukia with all my heart and soul! She was my mate, and you took that away, and for that, I will take away your life!"

"You shouldn't make empty threats, that you shouldn't." Kenshin calmly remarked with a small smile. "You are not strong enough to carry ouch such a threat, that you are not."

Smirking, Ichigo replied "We'll see, now won't we. Here I come, Kenshin Himura!"

Racing forward with Zangetsu ready to strike, Ichigo slashed out at Kenshin, who expertly parried the attack. Not done yet, Ichigo drew back his sword and slashed out once more, only to be met by Kenshin's own sword.

Again and again for nearly twenty minutes, the two swapped attacks with neither gaining the upper hand, nor either being cut by the other. At long last, the pair separated from one another with a distance of fifteen feet between each other.

Slightly grinning, Kenshin calmly said "Improved in your technique, that you have, but that is not enough against me. Now this battle ends."

With his words said, he vanished in a flash with no trace of where he stood. Taking a calming breath, Ichigo remained still. Without warning, Kenshin reappeared before Ichigo and performing a downwards slash at his chest. Before the blade could make contact, it slammed into the large cleaver knife blade, sending a set of sparks flying into the air.

Gasping in shock, Kenshin back flipped away from Ichigo and stared at the quarter demon with wide eyes. Smirking at Kenshin's surprise, Ichigo vanished just like Kenshin had a moment before. A moment later, he reappeared in front of Kenshin and slammed his sword in a downwards motion towards the stunned mage. With quick reflexes, the mage parried the attack, sending sparks flying into the air once more.

Backing away, Ichigo snickered and asked "What's the matter?"

"How is it that you did that? No quarter demon should be able to move that fast." Kenshin flatly stated.

Lightly chuckling, Ichigo smugly responded "You're right, I suppose. Most never get this fast, but you didn't think I did nothing for the last twenty-five years, did you? I've trained myself to become strong enough to face you, but with my strength, I increased my own speed."

"For several years, I've been able to watch your movements, but my body couldn't keep up with you. That is, I couldn't keep up until recently. I've finally gotten fast enough to keep up with you, meaning you can no longer exercise your superior speed over me."

Pointing Zangetsu at the red headed mage, Ichigo boldly said "I'm going to beat you, Kenshin Himura, and I'll beat you with all the skills I had to learn to get to this level. You will fall by my sword, and then when I'm done beating you, I'll kill you to avenge Rukia, and will set Lilly free!"


	47. Chapter 46: Long Awaited Fight, Pt 2

Chapter 46

**Hey everybody! (/Hears everyone shout back "Hi Doctor Nick!"\) Ok… Anyways, things are going good with my mate and I. Actually, things are about the same really, lol. Nothing exciting is going on with us, other than we get our bedroom furniture here in a few weeks. I'll be so happy to sleep in our new bed with our new mattresses. The old one is just creaky and so low, not to mention has a dip in the middle due that the frame is semi-bent. Oh well, but other than that, life is about as normal as ever, meaning busy, lol.**

**Writing wise, I'm still trying to find time to work on my two stories. With work being busy, it's hard to do it here, then at home I just don't find the inspiration I need sometimes, which sucks. I'll find time, so no worries, but still, it just sucks when I can't find either the inspiration or time to write. Especially since I usually have the whole freaking thing wrote out in my head, hehe.**

**Wow, the reviews just kept coming in this week. I found it hilarious, I posted a chapter of **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** and instead of getting reviews for it, I received a few for **_**Another**_** instead, lol. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying I was surprised, hehe. At any rate, moving along, it's time to answer those wonderful reviews!**

**2****nd**** L: Why hello again… who are you aliasing as this time? Oh yes, L, that's right. I keep getting lost, hehe. Wow, and 2 reviews from you also. Well, here goes in answering them. True, I did say three of four updates this week, and I have been true to my word thus far. I have done 2, and today will be 3, so there are 3 updates. Heh, good luck on finding out who I really am, for I am a master at hiding (half demons have to in order to survive), along with my mate. Besides, I'm sure you'd rather go play with N. Btw, it seems your English spelling is starting to fail somewhat, lol. Lol, true, N wasn't better than L. He was intelligent like L, but lacked the cohunes that L had. Nice that you upset Misa now. She could kill you again, spiritually or whatever you are now, lol. Or just beat you into submission with a song and dance with L, lol! You didn't offend us, I think… (/Notes his mates eyes are glowing red from where she is readying to transform into her full demon form. Slowly backs away.\) Uh… you may want to start running if you see a crazed half cat demon, who is transformed into her full demon form, comes running after you. She may tear you a few new holes… Lol, I ponder who is rubbing it in. Probably Mello, who needs some change to buy a chocolate bar. Glad to also see you made it out of the hospital. Well, Shiro may come back to visit you to ask to get in within the next few chapters, hehe. But we'll see about writing him in, so tell him to be patient. Hmm, the Renji idea is interesting, but if he was a baboon/dog demon, why didn't he use all of his power to take down Kenshin? That's the kind of paradox I'd hit, although I have come up with things to use Renji for later on in the story, but alas, I hit that paradox, so I don't think he'll be dragging himself back into the story sadly. That's a great idea again, but like I said, it's a little late to try it now. Thanks for the idea though, and for the reviews!**

**Kattana: Lol, yes, fight time. Heh, I suppose it would be like being back in the school yard, with the exception of people using swords, spells, and energy whips, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yes, return of the evil cliffhangers! But at least it has action, right? Thanks about the chapter and how I write battles. I really try hard to make them seem real, so I'm glad it's getting across. I still feel I don't write them that well, but oh well, lol. Yep, they're finally facing the mages, or at least Iya, Ichigo, and Lilly are facing Kenshin while Orihime, Kagome, and Inuyasha chase after Kurama, hehe. I hope I find time to write soon also. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: Thanks. Heh, Iya will someday tell her about the mating mark. You'll find out, eventually when, lol. I know, that's cruel that I'm being mysterious with it, but that's just me, hehe. Thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's all five of the reviews, although I do have one other, which is from chapter 6, but I'll PM you about it, Serenity Anne. And thank you for adding yourself to this story's alerts. Again, thank you, all five of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciate them. And anyone who hasn't reviewed but has comments, questions, or opinions, please, I encourage you to review or PM me. I'll be happy to answer almost any question, and I love to hear what everyone thinks of this story. **

**At that, I'm done for today. I hope you all liked this three chapter week. I know I sure did. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 46**

Chuckling, Kenshin raised his own sword and pointed it at the quarter bobcat, saying "You are quite confident in yourself, that you are. I will take great pleasure in defeating you."

Upon finishing his words, Kenshin vanished into thin air. A moment later, Ichigo guided his sword to his right flank just as Kenshin reappeared and slashed out at him. The two blades clashed, sending sparks flying. Once more, Kenshin vanished again, but this time Ichigo did the same. The pair reappeared in flashes throughout the battlefield, each time with the two clashing blades together. Again and again, the pair clashed, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Finally, after thirty minutes of constantly vanishing and reappearing, the pair reappeared with fifteen feet respectfully between them. Each stared at the other, with both looking for an opening or weakness in the other.

Smiling, Kenshin began chuckling till it turned into laughter. Bowing his head so that his eyes were hidden below the shadow of his bangs, he smirked and said "Now I see. You have improved greatly, that you have. I see I was right, the pain of loss has made you grow strong."

Raising his face up to reveal his eyes were now tinted with red, he smartly added "But not strong enough. It has been twenty-five years since I have had to fight seriously, but I see I can no longer fight like I always do. The last person I fought like this was your half breed mother, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Clutching Zangetsu tightly, Ichigo clenched his jaw and firmly said "You will pay for her death, mage. I'll avenge not only Rukia, but my parents and Renji as well!"

"Is that so?" Kenshin smugly remarked. Flicking a glance past the quarter bobcat, the mage saw Lilly still kneeling on the ground, with Iya close to her and seemingly trying to help her still. Frowning at this, the mage eyed the pair more carefully till he saw a pulsation come from Kimi. Upon seeing this, the mage smirked.

"Something funny!?" Ichigo irritably questioned.

Returning his sword to it's sheath, Kenshin extended two fingers on each hand and created a cross shaped hand sign, saying "Katon Bushin!"

Instantly, four towers of flames erupted from the ground around Kenshin. A moment later, the flames constricted and reformed into four exact duplicates of the red haired mage. Each instantly drew their swords and readied themselves to fight.

"Little late to be trying that trick again, isn't it?" Ichigo smartly asked while shifting Zangetsu onto his right shoulder.

The five Kenshins all lightly chuckled at this, with all saying at once "We'll see."

Racing forward, the five charged Ichigo, who readied himself. Without warning, two of the five raced towards Ichigo even faster while the other two vanished in a flash.

"What the hell…" Ichigo began, but didn't get to finish as the two that had vanished reappeared behind himself. Reacting quickly, Ichigo pushed off from them, but didn't get time to react as suddenly the two plunged their swords into one another, while the other two did the same at once.

Seeing this, Ichigo's eyes widened when suddenly the four exploded, sending a shockwave and flames roaring at him. The shockwave alone sent him flying away till he slammed into the ground roughly.

--

Glancing back to see Ichigo caught up in the explosion of the four Kenshin clones, Iya lightly growled. He then saw the red haired mage charging quickly towards him and Lilly.

"_He's coming for her. Damn it, she's vulnerable in her current condition. I'll have to take him on, but that's not a problem. I'll kill that bastard if he tries to take her._"

Moving before Lilly protectively, Iya drew Ketsaiga, causing the blade to instantly transform while moving it before his body.

Seeing Iya's resolve to defend Lilly, Kenshin raised his hands and performed the same hand sign he had previously a minute ago, yelling out "Katon Bushin!"

Appearing beside of the red haired mage while he ran immediately were four new exact duplicates of himself. The five each smirked and raced even faster towards Iya.

Swinging Ketsaiga to his right side, Iya called upon the sword's power, causing the blade to frost over with ice forming on it. Bringing the sword around with a mighty swing, he cried out "Shard Storm!"

Hundreds of small ice daggers suddenly went flying across the battlefield towards the Kenshins, who continued to race onwards towards Iya and Lilly. Without warning, each of the five raised their hands and performed a series of high speed hand signs, each crying out "Fire Style! Katon Goukakyuu!"

Each Kenshin suddenly shot a stream of fire from their mouths, melting the icy shards into nothingness. Seeing this, Iya readied himself for the approaching group.

The five each quickly drew their swords and lashed out at Iya, who parried the attacks with Ketsaiga. Growling lowly, while throwing the five backwards with all his might, Iya snarled out "I won't let you have her!"

"You have no say in this matter, half breed." one of the Kenshin clones said. Another added "She is our slave."

"Not for long!" Iya snarled while swinging at the closest clone.

Before he could hit the one that had spoken to him last, two swords intercepted his slash and held Iya back. Growling angrily, Iya drew back Ketsaiga and raised it above his head. In a mighty swing downwards, he screamed out "Wind Slash!"

The five Kenshins quickly reacted to the attack, with each managing to dodge the powerful burst of white demonic energy. Two though were unlucky, for before they could recover and regroup with the others, a whip of light blue energy cut through each, causing a small explosion of flames.

Retracting his whip, Iya resumed his position before Lilly and growled out "You will not take Lilly from me! I swore to protect her, and you'll have to kill me to get to her!"

The three remaining Kenshins glanced from one another, seemingly deciding their strategy. After a moment, the three raced forward towards Iya, who firmly stood his ground with a stony face. Without warning, two of the Kenshins vanished into thin air.

"No way is that happening!" Iya fiercely declared while jamming Ketsaiga into the ground. Unfurling his fingers, he sent called forth two whips, one from each hand, towards an empty area. Without warning, the whips struck two areas, which suddenly caused a set of fiery explosions.

Pulling Ketsaiga out of the ground quickly, Iya slashed out at the remaining Kenshin, only to hit thin air. Eyes widening, Iya glanced behind himself to see the mage had bypassed him and was now before Lilly. Without a second thought, the red haired demon reached out and jerked Kimi away from the half neko's grip, who gasped out in shock while glancing up.

Having the sword in his hands, Kenshin threw it towards a nearby tree, in which the blade embedded itself a foot deep into the wood. With a smirk, the mage leapt away just as Iya slashed out at him.

Landing safely twenty feet away from Iya and Lilly, the mage began a series of hand signs till finally he came to a stop. In a cold voice, he said "Sealing Spell, Awaken!"

Lilly's body suddenly pulsated wildly, making Iya quickly return his vision to her. In a gasp, he watched her clutch her head in her hands while screaming out in pain.

"STOP IT! YOU'RE KILLING HER!" Iya furiously yelled at the mage.

Ignoring Iya, the mage smirked and coolly said "Lilly, you are now my slave."

Releasing her head, Lilly defiantly looked up towards the mage and angrily spat "I WON'T BE CONTROLLED!"

"Oh but you will." Kenshin remarked with a cool voice. "Lilly, transform into your demon self."

With Kenshin's words said, Lilly felt her body pulsate once more, making her grimace in pain. Noting it, Iya kneeled next to the young half neko and reached out to her face and cupped her cheek. Softly, he said "Lilly, fight it. You can win, I know it."

Wincing from the pain of her body, she tried to respond, but found she couldn't. She suddenly felt herself losing control of her body like before during her other transformations. At the same time, her claws and fangs began lengthening while her green demonic markings appeared on her cheeks. Her eyes slowly clouded over in a red haze, with yellow slits appearing.

Smirking with satisfaction when he saw Lilly's change body, Kenshin icily said "Kill Iya."

In an instant, Lilly was on her feet and kicked Iya away, who quickly recovered into a landing. Coming to a skidding stop, he looked at the half neko with concern pouring out of his eyes. "Lilly, fight it. I know you're strong enough to fight him. Don't give into him."

Letting out a snarl, the half neko charged him, but the half dog demon stood his ground and didn't move. At the last moment, the half neko's eyes widened a fraction and she suddenly came to a skidding halt.

With tears starting to roll down her cheeks, the half neko weakly growled out "Iya… kill… me…"

Shocked at the words he was hearing, Iya shook his head roughly. "Lilly, I can't…"

Seeing the half neko was not attacking, Kenshin's brow furrowed. Opening his mouth to speak, he was suddenly interrupted by Ichigo slashing out at his back. Dodging the attack, the mage leapt away to safety and called out "Lilly, come to me."

Tearing her gaze away from Iya, the transformed half neko raced to the mage's side. Arriving at the half dog demon's side, Ichigo glanced at the half neko and heavily sighed.

"His spell finally got her."

"Not quite." Iya grimly remarked. "After he knocked you away, he charged me and created four new clones. I killed off the four clones easily, but he managed to bypass me and took Kimi away from Lilly. Without it, she couldn't resist him any longer. He simply commanded her to transform and she did."

"Still, she managed to resist him a few moments ago. She was about to attack me and without warning, she leapt away and asked me to kill her while she was crying. She's resisting him still Ichigo."

Looking at his partner, Ichigo began to say something, but stopped. Pausing for a few moments, he finally said "Iya, if you think she can still be saved, do whatever it takes to save her. I'll stop Kenshin, but it's up to you to help her resist."

"Right, I understand." Iya commented. "Just leave her to me. No matter what, you have to kill Kenshin before sunset if we're to save her. Understood?"

Receiving a nod, Iya added "Don't worry about me. Just take care of him."

Casting a harsh glare at the two facing off against himself and his slave, Kenshin glanced at his slave and growled lowly. "Do not resist me Lilly. You will do as I tell you, understood!?" he firmly declared.

Flinching at Kenshin's harsh words, Lilly slightly nodded her head and looked down at the ground. Sneering at this, the red headed mage eyed his two opponents for a moment before saying "Lilly, you will kill Iya. But to do that, you will need more power. Thus I have no choice but to have you transform into your true cat form. Now transform my slave!"

Upon Kenshin's declaration, Lilly's body instantly began pulsating while she let out a loud roar and sank to the ground on her hands and knees. Watching this, Iya began to move towards her, but stopped after a step or two.

"_Damn it, I want to go to her, but if I do, she may attack me unintentionally. Curse that Kenshin for all that he's doing to her!_" Iya growled in his mind.

Roaring out loudly once more as her body pulsated again, Lilly sank her claws into the ground and ripped up the grass while piercing her lower lip with her sharpened fangs, instantly drawing blood. Her entire body was trembling from the pain that racked throughout her. Again, her body pulsated, making her cry out from the excruciating pain she felt. All of her bones suddenly creaked loudly, as if all of them began shifting and reforming. A moment later, smoke engulfed her body and went sailing into the air. A loud roar was heard a minute later and the figure of a large black cat with elongated fangs sticking out of it's mouth, with red mixed into the hair on it's back, red corneas and yellow slit pupils, red flames on the backs of her paws, and a large black tail with a flame lit on the tip of it.

Landing onto the ground nimbly, the large black cat let out a massive roar, shaking the entire area and making Iya flatten his ears. Upon the roar ending, Iya looked at the large black cat with his muddy brown eyes and felt his heart twist in pain.

"_It must have hurt her so much to reach that form. Does she even exist anymore within that body?_"

Feeling something in the back of his mind, Iya let out a small grunt. "_No, I can still sense her soul. She's still there, but in that form, she won't be able to resist as much I think._"

Pointing towards the half dog demon, Kenshin called out "Lilly, kill Iya!"

Roaring out, the large cat bound across the field. Seeing the neko attempting to snap either of them in her jaws, both Iya and Ichigo leapt off to the side with each going in different directions. Following Iya, the large cat swiped out with her huge paw and slammed it heavily into Iya. Making contact, the half dog demon was sent flying back into the forest, who crashed through a few trees before finally falling to the ground limply. Without a second thought, the large black cat raced off into the forest after her prey.

"IYA!" Ichigo screamed out while beginning to rush towards his friend, but quickly stopped when the words Iya had spoken only minutes before began ringing through his head.

"_Just leave her to me. No matter what, you have to kill Kenshin before sunset if we're to save her. Understood?_"

Clenching his left hand tightly, Ichigo furiously turned towards the red haired mage, saying "You'll pay for what you've done to Lilly! Let's end this mage!"

"I agree, let's end this." Kenshin fired back.

Racing towards one another, the quarter demon vanished in a flash, along with the red haired mage. The two randomly reappeared throughout the clearing, each time with the two's swords clashing against one another. Again and again, the two clashed with one another, with neither gaining the upper hand.

After fighting one another for nearly another twenty minutes, the pair split apart, each staring one another down. Smirking, Ichigo shifted Zangetsu onto his right shoulder and confidently said "Looks like we're even. Hard to believe it, isn't it?"

"NO QUARTER BREED CAN MATCH ME!" Kenshin fired back angrily. Calming himself a bit, Kenshin sneered and smugly said "I will give you this, we are even in this fight as things stand. Of course, that is so long as I continue to hold back my true power from you."

Brashly, Ichigo pointed Zangetsu at the mage and said "Then show me your true power. I've yet to show you all that I have as well, but I think you're just bluffing."

"Not at all." Kenshin remarked while raising his right arm with his sword. Turning it horizontal so that it was before his body in length, he added "It is time I showed you my zanpakutō's true form."

"Zanpakutō?" Ichigo questioned with his brow furrowing. "Tell me, who created it for you?"

Smirking, Kenshin retorted "This sword, Ryūjin Jakka, is the zanpakutō that was given to me when I first joined The Thirteen. It was created by the sword smith known as Mayuri Kurotsuchi to help tie my skills as a mage with my skills as a swordsman."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Ichigo began chuckling and raised Zangetsu before his body and turned the sword broad side towards the red haired mage. "That sword of yours is nothing compared to my sword. It too is a zanpakutō, but created by the original sword smith who began making zanpakutō's. I speak of none other than Mayuri's master, Kisuke Urahara."

"What a fool you are to believe your zanpakutō is greater than my own." Kenshin remarked with a sneer. "Urahara is nothing more than a fool. His creations are weak compared to Mayuri's swords. But no matter, I will still crush you nonetheless, along with that weakly sword."

Once more sneering, Kenshin smugly said "Now, behold the true form of my zanpakutō. All things in the universe, turn to ashes! Ryūjin Jakka!"

Without warning, flames burst out from around Kenshin, igniting several tree stumps that were nearby. Ichigo stood his ground, but couldn't suppress a small gasp of shock from the flames flowing out of the red headed mage.

Raising his blade up diagonally, the red haired mage watched as the blade itself ignited, leaving it's metal covered in flames. Swinging his sword at Ichigo, the mage sent flames racing towards the quarter bobcat, who still stood his ground while the flames raced around him wildly and sending his clothing rustling.

In a smart tone, Kenshin smugly said "Come Ichigo Kurosaki and bask in the flames."

Grunting out, Ichigo went rushing forward with Zangetsu drawn ready to slash at anything in his path. Reaching the fire mage, the quarter bobcat lashed out at him, striking his sword with the mage's blazing one. The two clashed again and again for five minutes before Ichigo leapt away with his sword smoking. Jamming the sword's tip into the ground, he released the hilt and looked at his slightly singed hands.

"_Damn it, every time our swords clashed, Zangetsu got hotter and hotter. It was finally too much for me to handle. How the hell am I to fight him like that!?_"

"Do you understand yet that it's futile to fight me?" Kenshin asked, breaking Ichigo out of his thoughts.

Glaring at the mage, Ichigo reached out and took hold of the hilt of Zangetsu and pulled it free from the ground. Cringing mentally at the feel of warm metal reaching through the cloth hilt, he smirked and cockily replied "I'm never going to quit. You can't make me stop fighting for what I believe in."

"Is that so?" Kenshin challengingly questioned while moving his sword before his body, causing the flames coming off of it to shift. "Very well then, I have no choice but to end this battle then."

Racing towards one another, both demons lashed out at one another with their swords, with the two blades clashing once more. Instantly, Ichigo felt the blade of Zangetsu heating up, making him mentally cringe at the prospect of his sword becoming too hot once more. Pushing the thoughts away, he lashed out again and again at the red headed mage, only to be parried by the mage.

Time and time again, the pair's blades met, each time with neither gaining the upper hand in the battle. Feeling his hands starting to singe from holding onto the hilt of his sword, the quarter bobcat growled deeply in his mind and pushed the pain aside while continuing to lash out at the fire mage. Neither could hit the other, with each seemingly growing impatient with the results of that they were yielding.

Leaping backwards several feet, Kenshin drew his sword before his body and smirked at the quarter bobcat. "It's time I ended this pointless battle. It is obvious to me now you are not the true challenge that I seek."

"That right, eh?" Ichigo cockily asked while steam poured off of his sword. "Then mind explaining to me why I'm able to match you thus far!?"

Without a word, Kenshin raced forward while the flames surrounding his sword seemed to increase in intensity. Swinging his sword in a side slash, he cried out "Jōkaku enjō!"

Flames instantly went flying towards Ichigo and began surrounding him, making him eye them suspiciously. With no warning, the flames began forming a spherical shape around him. He attempted to leap into the air to escape them, but was unsuccessful when a dome of flames formed and connected to the rest of the sphere.

"What the hell is this!?" Ichigo demanded in an irate voice.

Hearing laughter, he growled lowly when he heard Kenshin calmly say from the outside of the sphere "This is your tomb. It is known as Blazing Fortress, and shall serve as your prison. The flames surrounding you are the hottest that Ryūjin Jakka and I can produce together. In that sphere, you shall parish one of two ways. The first being you try to wait out the flames, but you die of dehydration. The second being that you fool heartedly attack the walls of the Blazing Fortress and burn up from it. It's your choice on how you die, but one way or another, you will die."

Glancing around the sphere, Ichigo took a few steps forward and touched the wall of flames with the tip of Zangetsu. Immediately, he jerked the sword back and let it fall to the ground with a clang. Inspecting the blade, Ichigo saw the blade's tip was bright red.

"_When I touched the wall, I felt the heat flow up Zangetsu and touch my hands instantly. There is no way in hell I can slice through that wall with Zangetsu, not like that._"

Hearing the red headed mage outside sheath his sword, Ichigo growled and called out "Are you running away again mage!?"

"This fight is over, that it is." Kenshin calmly replied. "You are done for, thus I have no reason to remain. I must go kill that meddling half breed now, if my slave has not yet. Once I finish with him, she and I will travel together and kill the other half breed, along with that bobcat mage that interfered with our plans. She should never have interfered, that she should not have."

With his statement finished, the red headed mage turned and began walking away. Clenching his fists tightly till he drew blood from his nails digging into his palms, the quarter bobcat felt his body slightly shaking as an image of Kenshin plunging his sword through Orihime's chest played through his mind.

"_NO! I won't allow that to happen! I lost Rukia because of myself not being strong enough, and I'll be damned if I let Orihime die because of that same reason!_"

Reaching down, the quarter bobcat picked up his cleaver blade. He didn't flinch at all when the searing hot metal of the hilt underneath of the cloth burned his palm. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slowly reopened them after a moment, revealing icy blue glowing eyes. Instantly, his blue demonic aura flared to life around his body, sending out a fell wind and dirt flying into the surrounding flames. Wordlessly, he raised his cleaver sword, which was glowing with a light blue demonic aura also, above his head while keeping his eyes focused on the flames before him.

Coming to a stop with twenty feet between himself and the sphere he had created, the red haired mage glanced over his shoulder and frowned when he noted that the flames in it were shooting out the top of it. Turning back towards the sphere completely, his frown deepened upon sensing the demonic energy that was leaving the sphere he had created.

Feeling his demonic aura flaring around his body still, Ichigo hardened his expression towards the wall of flames. Without a single sign of hesitation, he swung his sword downwards, sending out a beam of blue demonic energy racing forward. The beam slammed into the heated walls of flames and easily sliced through them, causing a section of the sphere to completely vanish. With an opening, the quarter bobcat easily escaped the flaming sphere and arrived outside to find the red haired mage waiting with his hands clenched tightly.

"Not expecting to see me again?" Ichigo smugly questioned.

Staring at the quarter bobcat quietly, Kenshin finally broke the silence and in an even tone asked "What is that light that I just saw? Is this the true power of your zanpakutō, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Resting Zangetsu on his shoulders like always, Ichigo smirked and calmly said "That's right. When I swing my sword, all of my demonic power is absorbed by my zanpakutō, and then gets released again super high density beam. That gives it an incredibly amplified swing. That's Zangetsu's power."

"You know, the funny thing is, I've never actually aimed it at anything before. Until just now, I wasn't sure how to fire it."

Smirking once more, he added "Kisuke Urahara told me 'I can only teach you the stances.' Now I finally know what he meant."

"He was telling me," Ichigo began but paused for a moment, "that there was only one who could really teach me how to use Zangetsu, and that was Zangetsu himself."

In Ichigo's mind, the memory of him firing a blast of demonic energy while he panted heavily replayed. Nearby him, the elder form of Zangetsu stood by and smirked.

"_At last, you are able to fire a shot at will, Ichigo, so I shall tell you. The destructive power of an attack is a 1000 times greater when you know it's name than when you do not._" the sword spirit spoke. "_Hear this and remember well Ichigo, the name of that attack is..._"

Waking from his memory, Ichigo cockily smirked and proudly said "That attack's name is… Getsuga Tenshō!"

"Piercer of heaven, huh?" Kenshin questioned with irritation visible in his voice. "What a pretentious name. Since you won't die with some dignity, I shall crush you into dust and cast you into the wind."

Pulling Zangetsu back before his body, Ichigo cockily smirked and replied "Is that so, eh? Well then, come and try, but I think you'll find we're still equal in strength."

"Such arrogance!" Kenshin hissed. "To think you, a quarter breed, could even begin to equal me, a full blooded demon, in power! Bah!"

"What's the matter, don't believe me?" Ichigo brashly questioned.

Growling deeply, Kenshin began to say something, but stopped. Calming himself, he drew his sword slowly from it's sheath. Once more, it ignited with the blade of the sword itself blazing brightly with flames. In an icy tone, he calmly said "I see now I shall have to no longer hold back. I have allowed you to think you have been my equal thus far, but no more of that. I shall finish you off for your arrogance. Prepare for your death."

Readying himself, Ichigo called forth the demonic aura of Zangetsu, which coated the blade within it's light blue glow. Rushing forward, he lashed out at the red headed mage, with the two blades clashing with one another. Over and over, the two's swords clashed together, with neither gaining the upper hand like before.

Grinding his blade against Kenshin's, Ichigo smirked and asked "What's the matter Kenshin? Is this all you have!?"

Without warning, the red haired mage vanished in a flash, leaving Ichigo gasping in shock with the absence of the mage. A moment later, he reappeared behind the quarter bobcat. Suddenly, the bobcat cried out as five slash marks appeared across his body, with two on his chest, two on his waist, and one on his right shoulder. None of the five were very deep, but were smoking from where the searing hot steel had cut into his body.

"Do you understand now that you are not my equal?" Kenshin coldly remarked with his back still to Ichigo while the young quarter bobcat clutched one of his wounds.

Remaining quiet, the quarter bobcat lightly growled and quickly snapped around while slashing out at the red haired mage. A blade of light blue demonic energy went sailing towards the mage, who vanished in an instant.

"Damn it, I missed!" Ichigo lowly grunted.

Without warning, the bobcat felt a sword cut into him diagonally across the chest, sending blood splashing into the air as the red haired mage reappeared before the quarter bobcat with a smirk. Crying out in pain and gasping from the wound, the weakened quarter bobcat backed away while blood dripped down from his wound onto the ground in a splashing sound.

Coldly smiling, Kenshin smugly said "I warned you that you are not my equal. Do not think you could ever be an equal to me. Your blood is too human for you to ever be even considered compatible."

Hiding his eyes in the shadow of his bangs, Ichigo slightly smirked and let out a small chuckle. "I guess I should have expected this. Still, I thought I'd do better than this. After all, it's Shikai versus Shikai, but I can see that the power you possess outweighs my own."

"What are you babbling about?" Kenshin asked in a clipped tone.

"I wonder, did you know there are three forms to a zanpakutō?" Ichigo calmly asked with his eyes still being shadowed by his bangs.

Not waiting for more than a second for an answer, the quarter bobcat said "The first form of a zanpakutō is it's normal form. In that state, zanpakutō's have no real powers. They're just swords with a demonic aura."

"The next stage of a zanpakutō is the Shikai state. In that form, a person has learned the name of their zanpakutō from the sword's spirit itself. Upon saying the unleashing command, the zanpakutō's true form is revealed to it's wielder. Most people who have zanpakutōs arrive at this state, but most don't know there is a state beyond this."

Smirking slightly, he added "The final stage of a zanpakutō is known as the Bankai state. Few people can unlock this state. This is due that it is the most difficult state to unlock, thus not many have the time or patience to achieve it. People who work at it have said to have taken at least one hundred years or more to unleash this form. Even then, some never unleash the final form of their zanpakutō."

"Why do you speak of such foolishness quarter breed!? You try my patience with this explanation of something a child can understand! It's not a like a brat like you could ever learn to unleash the Bankai of your zanpakutō!" Kenshin roared irritably.

Chuckling, Ichigo looked up at the mage and smugly said in a challenging voice "Is that so!?"


	48. Chapter 47: Long Awaited Fight, Pt 3

**Hello again everyone. This past weekend was so long, lol. I spent Saturday helping my dad work in the hay, which consisted of mowing for the most part. Sunday, I went and saw my grandparents, who were doing rather well. Grandpa made mention to me about him being with his brother when he died, which I thought was odd, but he also added that he keeps forgetting he died also. I guess one positive thing that I realized this weekend also was that it has been officially one year since my grandfather's stroke. Sadly, he hasn't recovered to where he was prior to the stroke, but he is still here, and knows it, and that's important enough to me. I'm just thankful that he is still around, and that all of us get to see him a bit longer. Monday, I spent the day helping dad again with hay, which was a miserable hot day, but we got all of the hay we had down up and cut some more. We finish that up tomorrow, but in a week or so, we have more to do. Joy, hehe. And then I returned to work, which is just jammed pack also. Man, life is so busy, lol.**

**Writing wise, I've gotten some work done, but not too much. Like always, I just get too busy and can't get to this story or my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, sadly. I am trying though, and wouldn't worry. There will be at least one chapter a week, I guarantee that much to all of you, no matter what I have to do.**

**At any rate, time for reviews!**

**Shiro and Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Yay, Kira is dead! Lol, but anyways, I see that 2****nd**** L's name has changed, so I'll go ahead and run through his reviews while I'm at it. I saw your new fic and read through it. It wasn't too bad. Just kind of watch your grammar a bit more, but otherwise, it wasn't a bad start. Oh yeah, thanks for the props to my mate and I. But yes, this is possibly the start of a Bankai fight. Lol, must suck that Shiro broke in, and now apparently killed you. Cool that you're an extreme Bleach fan. I may ask you a few things eventually, but I don't know. I seem to be able to find out all I need to know for now, but if I get to where I need to know something specific, I'll ask. Heh, we'll see about putting Shiro into my story. Again, it may or may not happen. Yes, originally I said this story would be 50 chapters long, but over time, I came to realize I was wrong in my estimation. It's more like 70 chapters long, at the least, I think. I could be wrong, but we'll see on that one. Heh, a sequel, eh? Well, that's for another day, whether I decide to do that or not. It's cool about the other day. I had wondered how you got back, but that explains it all I suppose. Uh… I didn't need to see that last part, lol. Thanks for the reviews!**

**kattana: Heh, yeah, I suppose Ichigo does have a few feelings for Orihime. It's cool about renaming her, lol. I can't remember how to spell it sometimes myself, hehe. Yeah, hopefully Iya can contain Lilly and keep her from harming herself, let alone him or anyone else. True, he has yet to tell her and yet he may lose her without even telling her the truth. Yes, you're right, Kenshin would probably use that information about them being mates against the pair. True, the two should have more power to overcome their obstacles, but it'll work out. Hehe, true, the one holding the golden keyboard shall show you the way. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: The amount of chapters left is still up in the air. When I began, I thought it would only be 50 chapters long. I was quickly found to be wrong, with this story already approaching 50. I'm thinking now more than likely around 70, at the least. Maybe less, but I can't guarantee that either. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thank you, all three of you (technically 4 if you count Shiro, hehe). I appreciate all three of your reviews. Also, thank you to whomever it was that added my story to their favorites, and then me as a favorite author. As well, thanks to the one who added my story to their alerts. I'm sorry for not naming you specifically, but I've lot total track of who it was. I apologize for that. At any rate, thank you all for adding me to your lists. Also, to any who wish to review, but are too shy or are uncertain whether you should or not, I encourage you to review. I won't angrily tear your reviews apart. I like criticism, the good and bad kind. It helps out in developing my writing style.**

**Anyways, my work here for today is done. Thank you, for all of the reviews once more. I hope you all like the new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 47**

Groaning from the pain in his left arm, Iya slowly pushed himself up onto his knees with his right arm. Attempting to move his left arm, he quickly realized by the severe pain flowing from it that it was broken.

"_Damn, this isn't good. With only one good arm, I'm not sure what I can do now._"

Hearing a loud thud near him, he glanced up and saw the large black cat that had slammed him into the forest was now only ten feet away from himself. Weakly, he stood and looked the large cat in the eye, but saw nothing in it's eyes, as if it was empty and completely emotionless.

In a soft voice, he said "Lilly, you're still in there, I know it. Please, you've got to fight him."

Roaring loudly, the large black cat charged Iya and attempted to snap him up, only to close her mouth around nothingness. Flicking her eyes to the air, the large black cat growled when she saw the half demon flying through the air and finally touch back down onto the ground about twenty feet away.

Grimacing from the shock of landing onto the ground, Iya grabbed hold of Ketsaiga's hilt and sharply said "Lilly, I don't want to hurt you. Please, fight him! I know you're still in there, so try and help me!"

Seemingly not hearing the half dog demon's pleas, the large black cat raced forward with her jaws snapping open and closed. Seeing this, Iya drew his sword, sparking it's transformation instantly. Slamming the powerful fang into the ground, he yelled out "Ice Barrier!"

Forming before the half dog demon instantly was a twenty foot tall wall of ice that was three foot thick. Not having a chance to slow down or stop, the cat slammed heavily into the wall, which crackled upon impact. A moment later, the ice wall fell apart, revealing the large black cat on the ground and shaking her head, while letting out a pained roar.

Putting some distance between himself and the neko, Iya sheathed Ketsaiga once more and stared back at the cat demon. "Lilly…" he whispered softly while clenching his right hand tightly.

"_I can't fight her while she's like this. She has no idea what she's doing, so I can't harm her, no matter what. That means I can't use Ketsaiga's defensive attacks at all. I don't know how much harm she'll do to herself if I keep using Ice Barrier. And I can't transform into my dog form due that my dog form is too big and I would only hurt her by accident I'm sure._"

Eyeing the cat warily, he sighed lightly. "_No matter what, I have to try and help her remember who she really is. I know she's in there. There is no doubt in my mind. I can feel her due to our connection through that mark on her neck._"

Looking at the black neko, the half dog demon noted a light blue glowing on her near the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Taking a closer look, he saw that it was indeed the same two glowing dots that he had seen earlier when she had been in her humanoid form.

Hearing the cat let out another hiss, Iya watched as the black transformed neko stood up while shaking it's head once more. Releasing a loud roar, the black cat charged the half demon, who simply stood his ground.

"Lilly, please, you have to help me. I know you can do this." he said aloud.

Seemingly ignoring the neko slammed her nose into the half dog demon's chest, sending him sailing into the air. Shifting his body around in mid-air so he would land onto his feet, the half demon hit the ground on the balls of his feet with a grunt while pain flared up his left arm once more.

Not having a chance to recover, the half demon quickly rolled to his right as the large cat slammed a heavy paw into the ground where he once stood, causing dust to go flying into the air. Noting that the half dog had moved, the large cat quickly swung around, using her tail like a whip to swing into the dog demon that was recovering, sending him flying into a nearby tree with great force.

Falling from the tree and back onto the ground on his stomach, Iya let out a ragged cough while clenching his jaw tightly from the pain he felt in his back and left arm. Weakly, he pushed himself up off the ground and back onto his hand and knees.

Swiveling his ears, Iya glanced up to see the large black cat was moving towards him slowly. She had her lips flared out with her fangs bared. Releasing a mighty roar, the cat charged the half demon as he stood back up with his eyes hidden below his bangs.

"Do what you must Lilly, I won't fight you." he mumbled lowly with determination while not looking up at the charging cat.

Instead of feeling a painful blow, Iya's ears picked up the sound and felt a tremendous thud. Raising his eyes to look up, he saw that the large black cat had altered her course at the last moment and crashed erratically into a nearby tree with great force. Over and over, she rammed her forehead into the tree while growling loudly as tears were seemingly seeping down from her eyes.

Eyes widening, the half dog demon regained his composure and firmly called out "Lilly, stop it! You'll hurt yourself!"

Casting a fierce glare towards the half demon, the cat roared loudly while flames erupted around her body. Instantly, the cat took to the air and backed away from the dog demon so that she had a distance of twenty feet in the air and ten feet distance from him.

Looking up at the large black cat, which had a wound on it's head that had a small amount of blood oozing from it that was dripping down between her eyes and mixing with tears, Iya stared deeply into her eyes that seemed filled with rage and anger still, but noted a fear within them as well.

"You're still in there, fighting hard to regain control." he quietly said.

Not receiving any conformation, Iya sadly smiled. "Lilly, you asked me if I remembered my promises that I made to you a few days ago. I didn't answer you then, because I was so mad at myself for trying to choose my past over my future."

"The day I met you, my life seemed to change so much. I wasn't sure what to make of you at first, but over time, I grew attached to you. Eventually, I made a promise to you the night that you was attacked and transformed into your demon state. I made a solemn promise to always protect you till my dying breath."

Staring her directly in the eye, he added "I meant every word I said to you that night. I would give my life if it meant you would be safe and live on. I am willing to sacrifice everything to protect you. That was the kind of promise I made to you."

Noting that the cat demon was no longer snarling or hissing at him, Iya continued on, saying "And then you sat with me through my human night. No one has ever done that for me. I always preferred to be alone for it, but that night with you, I didn't feel alone for the first time in a long time, nor wanted to be. I felt perfectly fine to remain in your company for as long as you would allow me. And then that next morning, I made another important promise to you."

"I promised that you would see another sunrise with your human eyes. You know that I meant every word, and I will fulfill that promise also."

Seeing the flying cat seemed to be slowly lowering towards the ground, Iya weakly smiled and softly said "Not long after that, you made a promise to me, one I can never forget. After our fight with Kimimaro, you told me that you had decided to promise to protect me with your life, that you wouldn't allow me to die for you. When I heard that promise, I was shocked that you'd lay down your life for me. It had always been I promising to die fighting to protect someone, not the other way around. In a lot of ways, it made me feel so much closer to you."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Iya finally slowly said "And then unexpectedly, my heat came upon me early a few days ago. I was certain I couldn't help any of you, and I didn't wish to due that my heat would keep me from moving for three days."

"But you reminded me of the promises that I made to you, and you made a bold sacrifice, offering yourself to help quell my heat. I realized immediately that you were doing the same thing my mother did for my father. To quell one of his heats long ago, she offered herself to him, but asked for nothing in return. Lilly, you did the same, and it completely took me by surprise."

Noting the large black cat seemed to be paying close attention, the half dog demon continued on, saying "I renewed my promise to you that night that I would always protect you, no matter what. The words were real, and I meant all of them."

"And then I unintentionally did something to you that night that made me be afraid." he muttered with a bit of hesitation. "It is something that has caused me to avoid you at all costs. Something that I never knew I had done till the morning after."

Taking a deep breath, he slowly said "I unintentionally marked you that night. It happened when I was lost in the first wave of my heat, when I was still mostly in control of myself. I had marked you as my mate without realizing it while I was lost in the moment we climaxed together."

Hearing what sounded like a small gasp, Iya sadly smiled and added "But none of that matters now. Lilly, I have always wished to be with you. From the day I met you, I felt a connection with you, something that told me that I wanted to always protect you and take care of you, like mates do. And then, I found out I had marked you and I got scared. The reality that I had marked you as a mate terrified me."

"It wasn't the fact that I knew I had marked you that scared me, it was the thought of losing you to Kenshin that frightened me. I was afraid that if he knew we were mates, he'd take advantage of that in battle and use it against me, like how we are now. Perhaps I should have told you the truth, but I thought I was doing the right thing."

Looking down at the ground, he let out a ragged sigh. Returning his vision to look at the large black cat, he softly said "I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid."

Clenching his right hand into a tight fist, he bit out "I was afraid that you still might view me as a monster due to what I did with you during my heat, much like how Kaia did long ago. With her, I had no control over myself, but with you, I made the choice and so did you. My fear was that you would be angry for me accepting your help in quelling my heat, but I should have realized you're not like that. You willingly did what you had to in order to help me, and asked for nothing in return from me."

Lightly smiling, Iya gently said "Lilly, the truth of the matter is I care about you deeply, so deeply that I marked you as my mate without a second thought. That's why I won't fight you. You mean too much to me to even think of fighting or harming you."

"Please, fight against the spell a little longer. Ichigo will kill Kenshin, but you have to remain strong till then. Please, I beg you, keep fighting. If not only for your freedom, then for us to have a future together."

Softly growling, the large black cat touched down onto the ground with tears still leaking down it's face. She let out a pained roar for a moment while shaking her head heavily. In an instant, the black cat raised it's head back up and revealed wild eyes. Letting out a mighty roar, the cat charged towards Iya who stood his ground.

At the last instant, the cat redirected it's course into another tree, which went crashing to the ground from the tremendous force the cat had behind it. Letting out a pained growl, the black cat stood back up and glared at the half dog demon with tears still trickling down from it's eyes.

"Stay strong Lilly, please. I know Ichigo will come through for us. Just hang on a little longer." Iya softly said while leaping out of the way of the slow moving cat.

--

"What was that?" Kenshin questioned.

Smirking, Ichigo smugly said "Don't make me repeat myself. I think you heard me, but you just don't want to believe that a quarter breed could ever achieve such a thing. Well, whether you believe it or not, I'm not going to say it again. You'll believe it once you see it for yourself, Kenshin Himura!"

Straightening his body and taking a forward stance with his left foot leading, Ichigo drew back Zangetsu behind his back with it pointing in the opposite direction of the mage. Slamming his foot into the ground, causing some dust to rise, he let out a loud yell while his light blue demonic aura began swirling around his body. Opening his left hand and widening his eyes slightly, the quarter bobcat called out more of his demonic power, causing his aura to begin swirling more wildly around his body while his clothing and hair began rustling.

Watching Ichigo's demonic aura flare around his body, Kenshin took an involuntary step backwards with a slight glimmer of uncertainty in his eyes. "It isn't possible. No quarter breed could ever reach this level…" he mumbled in disbelief.

Hardening his stare at the mage, the quarter bobcat's memories began replying in his mind of the day he first fought the mage. The memory of how he had been easily cast aside burned within his heart and mind forever of how he had failed to protect Rukia and his family. Another memory filled his mind then of his second fight with red haired mage, with Rukia's future on the line. He remembered how he had once more failed to kill the mage, and in the end, had to take his mate's life to keep her from being forced into a life of slavery. The raw pain washed through his mind at the memory of losing his mate. Instantly, the memory of his vow to destroy the mage resurfaced, along with the memories of his torturous twenty-five year journey to grow strong enough to defeat the mage.

Lightly grunting at the image of Rukia laying dead in his arms within his mind, he let out a low growl and dismissed his demonic aura, causing a cloud of dust to race forward. Thrusting his sword forward one handed till it pointed at the red haired mage, the quarter bobcat felt the cloth that usually hung freely off of his sword wrap around his right arm all the way to his shoulder. Reaching over with his left hand and placing it onto his right elbow, Ichigo ground out "Bankai!"

Without warning, his body began glowing with his light blue demonic aura again, along with his eyes turning light blue. The blade of the cleaver sword instantly began glowing brightly as well, with light blue lightning flashing off of it's blade. The ground beneath the blade instantly began crumbling from the sheer power of the demonic aura above it.

Suddenly, a blast of white demonic energy went racing forward from the blade towards the red haired mage, whose eyes widened in shock. At the last moment, he dodged the blast of searing white energy, which carved a ditch out while it continued onwards. Wild lightning began flashing from the sword and Ichigo as a cloud of dust suddenly began swirling around him and obscuring him from the mage's sight.

Slowly, the dust cloud began dispersing, revealing a black and tattered trench coat with red on the inside, along with a long black sword that shimmered in the sunlight. Hanging off of the hilt of the sword was a black chain that was half a foot in length and had a broken link on the end of it, while the guard on it had a spiral like shape. A moment later, the sword shot out a small white demonic aura, causing the dust to scatter and settle. Standing where he had once, Ichigo calmly said "Tensa Zangetsu."

Eyeing the sword in the quarter bobcat's hand, Kenshin frowned and asked "So then, that's it? That little weapon? That's your Bankai?"

Pausing for a moment, he smirked slightly and added "It looks just like a regular zanpakutō. Now I can see, you are truly pathetic. As I thought, you are still nothing compared to myself, thus I have wasted all these years in waiting for you to grow strong enough to rival me."

Raising his sword, which caused flames to once more erupt around his body once more, Kenshin prepared to swing his sword in the quarter bobcat's direction, only to suddenly find Ichigo standing before him and parrying his swing.

"Not strong enough to rival you, eh?" Ichigo brashly asked with a smirk.

Eyes widening, Kenshin leapt away and cast a glare at the figure in the black trench coat. "It isn't possible…" he mumbled to himself.

Holding his sword before himself horizontally, Ichigo fiercely said "I made a vow long ago to myself to rectify what you have done. That I would kill you for what you did to Rukia, my mother, my father, to Renji, and to all the others you've harmed or killed along the way. I would like nothing more than to drag out your death for hours on end, but I made a promise to someone else, and she is someone I could never fail. So if you don't mind, come and fight me now so I can completely crush you."

Clenching his jaw tightly, the mage roughly bit out "Don't get so confident brat! I've yet to show you what I am truly capable of."

"You'd better quit holding back then, because with the power of my Bankai, I'm going to crush you, once and for all. I take it since you haven't tried to unleash your own zanpakutō's Bankai, that means you haven't achieved it yet, have you Kenshin Himura?"

Clutching his sword tightly, the mage vanished in a flash, only to reappear before Ichigo while swinging his sword at the quarter bobcat. Without warning, the quarter bobcat vanished just as quickly as Kenshin had appeared, leaving the fire demon in a state of shock.

"Looking for me?"

Sensing the quarter bobcat's presence behind himself, the fire mage clenched his jaw tightly and vanished in a flash. Reappearing behind Ichigo, Kenshin thrust his sword forward, only to find thin air before him. Vanishing in a flash once more, the mage and the quarter bobcat reappeared twenty feet away with their swords clashing against one another. Again and again, the pair vanished and reappeared throughout the clearing, each time with the pair clashing their swords with one another.

For nearly thirty minutes, the pair continued to attack one another, with neither gaining the upper hand like before. Reappearing with fifteen feet between one another, each stared at the other, with Kenshin lightly panting.

"What's the matter Kenshin, I thought you were going to cut me down and finish off the others? Is this all you have? What a joke." Ichigo snidely remarked.

Clenching his jaw tightly, the red haired mage snapped back "Watch your mouth!"

Calming himself, the mage smirked and slowly sheathed his sword. "I see you have improved drastically as to what I had once thought you had. It is true, I have no Bankai, as of yet, but I do not need it. The powers I have alone make up for the fact that I have no Bankai."

Watching the mage place his hand on the hilt of his sword and shifting into a long forward stance with his right foot leading, Ichigo stared at the mage and whispered "That's the stance that…"

"Yes, it is, Ichigo Kurosaki." Kenshin interrupted with a cold voice. "This is the attack I used to kill your filthy half breed mother. It is called Shinsoku, and is one of my deadly sword skills known as Battōjutsu. With this, I shall slay you, thus putting an end to your pathetic life. Now come and have a taste of the steel that killed your family."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Ichigo finally said "Alright, if that's what you want, then here I come!"

Racing forward, the quarter bobcat drew his sword up and readied himself to strike. With a sneer, Kenshin smugly declared "Die!"

With god like speed, he drew his sword and slashed out at Ichigo's chest, only to instead meet the steel of the quarter bobcat's sword. Eyes widening, Kenshin felt his mouth fall open while shock flowed through him. Quickly leaping backwards away from the quarter bobcat, the mage recollected himself and stared hard at the orange haired young man before him.

"Impossible…" Kenshin whispered. "No one can block my Shinsoku! It's not possible for anyone to block that attack, just not possible!"

Smirking, Ichigo smartly replied "Is that so, then what just happened? Maybe it's time you realize that you're outmatched."

"NO QUARTER BREED WILL BEAT ME!" the mage roared while charging forward, only to strike out at thin air.

Reappearing quickly behind the mage with his sword's tip poking the mage's back, Ichigo firmly said "This fight is over for you Kenshin Himura. You can't beat me."

Growling loudly, the red haired mage vanished, only to reappear ten feet away. Taking a glance, the mage saw the quarter bobcat was gone, but instantly felt his presence behind him.

Swinging around with his sword, the mage lashed out at the young orange haired man, only to hit nothing. Taking a glance around the area, the mage suddenly saw the quarter bobcat demon racing in circles around him at a speed where it appeared the quarter demon was barely there.

Growling with anger at the sight, the fire mage slashed through the air with his sword, sending flames throughout the area, but none hit their mark. Again and again, the mage used his sword to send out flames, but the results were the same with none touching the blurry image of the quarter demon.

"What's the matter? Am I moving too slow for you? Just say so and I can move a little faster if you like." Ichigo taunted.

Digging his sword into the ground, the fire mage performed a series of hand signs before his body, yelling out "Fire Style! Katon Karyuu Endan!"

Taking a deep breath, the mage spat out a huge stream of flames in the speeding quarter bobcat's direction. The flames slowly took form of a large fire dragon, which let out a mighty roar and blew flames at the quarter bobcat. Changing direction, the orange haired young man began racing around the dragon at a speed that Kenshin could hardly watch. The flames suddenly began to quell due to the lack of oxygen in the air, causing the dragon to slowly vanish.

Coming to a stop with fifteen feet between himself and the mage, Ichigo smirked and asked "Is that the best you got? I want you to give me everything you've got! I want you to know you failed to beat me because you weren't capable of it, so come on!"

Growling loudly while clenching his fists tightly till his nails dug into his hands and drew blood, Kenshin glared at the quarter bobcat. Taking up his sword once more, he sheathed it like before and placed his hand on his hilt while moving into a long front stance with his right foot leading.

"I see. In that case, I must unleash the one attack that no one has ever beaten. Trust me, you will die by my sword once I deliver this. I have only used this technique twice in my lifetime, and both times those I fought died. The first being my master, the second being my former apprentice." the mage darkly said while hiding his eyes below the shadows of his bangs.

Eyeing the mage carefully, Ichigo pondered on what looked like the mage's last stand. "_He's in that stance again. But why use that attack once more!? It's not going to help him win since he knows I'll block it. So why try using it?_"

Reaching out with his senses, the quarter bobcat found something disturbing about the energy the red headed mage was putting out. "_Odd, his demonic aura is lowered some, but I can sense he's still got tremendous power. I bet he's trying to channel all his power into his speed. He thinks that if he's fast enough, he can kill me with that attack of his. Well, he's dead wrong on that one. I've yet to show him what all I have._"

Clutching the black sword within his hand tightly, Ichigo took up a new stance and boldly said "Get ready Kenshin Himura, because this is the end!"

"Come Ichigo Kurosaki and have a taste of my true power." the mage darkly fired back with his eyes still hid below his bangs.

Without hesitation, the quarter bobcat began racing across the span between himself and the mage while images of his former mate, his parents, friends, and comrades raced through his mind. "_I won't fail them! I will end this now!_"

"_Yes Ichigo, this is it. Show him your true power!_" the quarter bobcat heard in his mind from the voice of his sword's spirit, Zangetsu.

Increasing his speed while readying his sword, Ichigo let out a loud scream, saying "This is the end Kenshin Himura!"

"Not yet, it is not." the mage grunted out while suddenly drawing his sword with speed that Ichigo had not seen in the mage previously.

Realizing that the mage's sword was aimed for his chest like previously, Ichigo quickly raised his sword and parried the attack, causing the two blades to send out a shower of sparks while Ichigo was pushed backwards a step from the force of the attacks.

"Now it ends!" Ichigo declared while readying himself for another attack.

Casting a fierce glare, Kenshin harshly replied "Yes, for you!"

Unsure of the mage's words, Ichigo began to reply when he noted that before him, a blue glowing circle seemed to appear, and was pulling him in towards it. Struggling against it, he tried to pull away, only to find his body still being pulled inwards towards the glowing circle.

Seeing a smirk upon the mage's face, the quarter bobcat quickly realized that it was him that had created the glowing circle. "_Damn it, what is this!? It's like that circle is sucking me towards Kenshin, but what the hell does that accomplish!?_"

Taking a step forward, Kenshin sneered and yelled out "DIE QUARTER BREED!"

Watching the mage thrust his sword forward towards his unguarded chest, Ichigo tried to leap away, but found his body was still being pulled towards the rift that the mage had created. "_If he stabs me, it's all over! I have to think of something, and fast!_"

Feeling he had some control over the direction of his body still, the young quarter bobcat moved his body so that the thrust the mage was shoving at him would pierce through his gut instead. With no time to change his sword direction, the mage buried his sword into the young man's gut, drawing a hiss of pain from the quarter bobcat.

"You managed to avoid being killed by my attack…" the mage gasped out with shock washing over his face.

Smirking and letting out a low chuckle, Ichigo replied in a pained voice "Yeah, and now it's over for you."

Finding he could move on his own accord again, the quarter bobcat jerked his body backwards and grimaced at the feeling of the sword leaving his body while blood poured from the wound. Vanishing in a flash, he reappeared in mid-air about five feet in front of the mage. A black swirl of demonic energy began flowing around the black sword in his hands while he swung it in a downwards slash.

"GETSUGA TENSHŌ!"

Racing forward in a bit of a flowing strike, the blast of demonic black energy slammed hard into the fire mage, who stood in complete shock. An explosion ensued with a thunderous boom, sending dust and debris everywhere in the clearing.

Slowly, the dust settled, revealing the red headed mage with a deep set of wounds on his chest, with thick crimson blood pouring out from the wounds and soaking into his pink top. He was raggedly breathing while barely standing.

Letting out a weak cough, which produced a puddle of blood, Kenshin glanced at Ichigo as he landed back onto the ground and muttered "A quarter breed… He was just a quarter breed…"

With his words said, the red headed mage's eyes dimmed and rolled back into his head while his body fell forward onto the ground, with blood spurting out upon impact. A small gust of wind blew some of the mage's hair over his face.

"It's over…" Ichigo mumbled aloud while moving his left hand to cover his gut wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

After a minute of staring at the dead mage, Ichigo released his wound and dug his sword into the ground. With all of his emotions, he screamed out loudly into the air.

Stopping his yell after half a minute, he felt his body trembling while tears began rolling down his cheeks. Falling to his knees, he sadly smiled and looked back up at the sky.

"_Mother, father, Renji, and most importantly, Rukia, I did it. I've avenged all of your deaths at long last. I'm so sorry it took so long, but I did it at long last._"

Lightly chuckling, he reached up and dried his tears, softly saying "Rukia, I'll never forget you. I promise I will try to fulfill your last wish and try to move on with my life. I miss you so much…"

Glowing with a light blue aura, the trench coat Ichigo wore slowly vanished, and the sword before him returned to it's cleaver blade form. Standing up, he gingerly walked over to the sword and pulled it from the ground.

"Thank you Master Zangetsu, for everything."

Appearing before Ichigo in a hazy form was the elder spirit of the sword who cracked a small smile, saying back "_You did well Ichigo. Be proud of what you have accomplished._"

With his words said, the spirit vanished, leaving the quarter bobcat alone once more. Grimacing from the pain he felt in his gut still, Ichigo covered the wound with his one free hand while placing the large sword back onto his back with the other. The bandages on the hilt of the sword instantly expanded and attached the sword back onto his back while covering up the blade.

Glancing in the direction he had seen Iya and Lilly take off in, he flinched lightly from the pain he felt. "I have to go check on them. I don't think she killed him while I was fighting Kenshin or she'd have returned. I just hope he didn't do something he'll regret."


	49. Chapter 48: Dog Fight, Pt 1

Chapter 48

**Hey gang! Well, this past week and weekend was fun. To start with, on Wednesday, I helped my dad out in the hayfield. That was fun and all till without warning, a chain in our bailer broke, tearing up a set of forks within it. Needless to say, the bailer was dead for the day. We went out and found someone to finish bailing our hay, and then took the bailer to get fixed. It's now back up and running, so happy days, lol. On Saturday, I saw my mom and grandparents, which was fun. Not much else really happened this weekend, or this week, other than I'm staying rather busy at work.**

**Writing wise, I'm working at trying to get this story some chapters, but it's hard to find the time. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's hard to find time to work on it and my other story at the same time, plus have time for anything else, lol. No worries though, I will continue to update this story as often as I can, so for now, 1 chapter a week stays in place, till I can get on a major writing streak again.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Lol, yes, Kenshin is dead. Eh, I don't think I'm that great at the fight scenes. People tell me I am, but I still find that hard to believe. It's much like my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, where everyone says I write awesome duels, but I still don't see it. I still see much room for improvement, but I'm glad everyone does think I do well, so I suppose that's a plus. You'll get better as you do it, so don't worry. Glad you liked the fight. Yes, no Bankai fight. Kenshin had yet to learn Bankai. Like Ichigo explained it, some demons can and some can't achieve Bankai, with many spending years to reach that level. Obviously, Kenshin had not yet reached that level. Yamamoto had Bankai in Bleach, that is true, although he had yet to reveal it that I knew of, hence why I also didn't have him release his Bankai, but I could have improvised. Anyways, yes, Ichigo handed Kenshin his butt on a platter. Like I said, I may bring Shiro in for this story, but I haven't decided, and that'd be a little ways away at the moment. True, I have kind of switched up Orihime's personality, with her reflecting more of Rangiku's personality than anyone else, but I did this due that she is a bobcat demon to start with, who are more open to the idea of sex and so on, thus why she's not ashamed of when she shows off her body. But yeah, I know the difference in the two, but I kind of blended them together. She is still Orihime down at the core, so no worries about it. Lol, poor Kira. I'm sure he'll one day return, maybe, lol. Hmm, odd he had bullets still in him since he was just in a gigai. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: Thanks for the review, and I'll try to update as soon as I can.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Glad you liked the fight. Hehe, yeah, he got a nice ending at long last. I'm also glad to hear from you. I hadn't seen you online for a while, nor a review from you, so I was starting to wonder what was up. Again, good to hear from you once more and thanks for the review!**

**Kattana: Yep, Ichigo kicked Kenshin's butt. Glad you liked the fight. Perhaps all that mushy stuff will happen now that Kenshin is dead, but you never know. Lol, true, they'd probably run off after Inuyasha to make sure he didn't destroy the entire forest. Glad you don't think there is a dull moment. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciate it, all of you. Also, thanks for the person who recently added my story to their favorites. Unfortunately, I did a lousy job of keeping track of who you were, so I apologize. I am happy though that you added my story.**

**Well, I'm done for this week, so I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 48**

Panting heavily while eyeing the large black cat before him that was lowly growling, Iya readied himself for her next attack. He didn't have long to wait, for she soon began a lumbering charge towards him. A bit tired, he leapt out of the way as fast as he could with his remaining strength while the black cat flew on past where he had once stood and came to a skidding stop while whipping her body back around to face him once again.

Staring at the black cat, Iya softly said "Just hang in there a little longer Lilly. Ichigo will kill him, I know it."

Receiving a feral growl instead, he watched as the black cat charged him with more speed than previously. "_Great, she must have lost control once more. Damn it, this is taking it's toll on both of us. I don't have the heart to fight her, but at the same time I can't let her kill me either. Come on Ichigo, hurry up damn it._"

Hearing a loud roar, the half dog demon woke from his thoughts and quickly rolled out of the cat when it pounced at his location. A heavy thud sounded off from the impact, with the black cat letting out a soft but painful roar.

Getting back to his feet and readying himself for another of her attacks, Iya glanced off towards the horizon and noted that the sun was nearly sunk below the ground level. Gritting his teeth, the half demon glanced back at the black cat, which was glaring at him with her fangs bared.

"_Ichigo, come on! If we're going to save Lilly, we need to do it now! Once that sun sets, she'll be..._"

Shaking his head, the half dog demon hardened his stare and mentally fired back "_No, I can't think like that. I know he'll succeed! He has to!_"

Letting out a loud roar, the large cat demon charged towards Iya, who stood his ground while watching. Hearing a loud explosion off in the distance, he glanced off into the forest and taking his eyes off of the cat. Before he could turn back to look at her, she was nearly in front of him and lunged her head towards him with her fangs ready to tear into his body.

With only a few inches between the large cat's fangs and Iya's chest, the cat suddenly stopped. Watching, Iya was shocked when the cat pulled back and raised it's head up slightly to where it's face was level with his own. Without warning, he suddenly felt the cat's warm and rough tongue lick his cheek, and affectionately rub it's nose up against his chest.

Confused and bewildered by the cat's actions, he slowly asked "Lilly, is this really you?"

Raising it's head back up to meet his eyes with her own, the cat slightly nodded and once more licked his face. Cracking a smile, the half demon reached forward and began stroking the cat's cheek with his right hand.

"Ichigo did it. He must have killed Kenshin at long last."

Eyes misting without realization, Iya added "Lilly, you're free. Kenshin no longer has control over you."

Moving closer to the large black cat, he pressed his face into the cat's cheek and patted her shoulder lightly. Pulling back, the black cat saw the tears starting to leak out of the half dog demon's eyes. Letting out a soft mewing sound, the cat pressed her nose softly up against his cheek and lightly rubbed against it.

Separating at long last, Iya's brow furrowed and he asked "Lilly, do you know how to revert back to you half demon form?"

Remaining still, the cat finally shook it's head in a no fashion. Letting to out a light sigh, the half dog demon closed his eyes and put his right hand under his chin. After mulling over some thoughts for a minute, his eyes snapped open.

"Ok Lilly, here is what you must do. You must look inside of yourself and search your heart and mind for what your half demon form looks like. Once you find it, try calling for it within your mind. That should hopefully transform you back into your half demon form, with any luck."

Letting out a soft meow, the cat nodded slightly and proceeded to back away a few feet and closed it's eyes. Remaining quiet for a minute, the cat stood completely still. At long last, her body began to glow with a white glow. The white light suddenly became blinding, making Iya cover his face till it dimmed at long last. With the light retreating, the form of the half neko demon was revealed, who had no clothing on, a bit of dried blood on her forehead, and had her eyes closed still.

Slowly, her emerald eyes fluttered open and she smiled warmly at the half dog demon. A moment later, she instantly went running to him and wrapped him in an embrace, being mindful to not touch his left arm. Gently, he wrapped his right arm around her, pulling her into a tighter embrace while she rested her head in the crook of his neck and he placed his own on top of her head.

Tears silently began sliding down both half demons cheeks, with Lilly softly saying "I'm so sorry Iya. I couldn't control myself. It was so hard to watch myself fighting you and knowing what I was doing to you. I wanted to just die for harming you."

"It's alright Lilly." Iya softly cooed to her. "I know you didn't want to hurt me. I'm fine, really. My arm will heal, so don't worry about it."

Pulling back and looking into the emerald eyes of the half neko demon with his own muddy brown ones, the half dog demon softly smiled and added "And if you had died, I would never forgive myself for failing you. I care too much about you to lose you."

Kissing her lightly on the forehead, Iya once more pulled back and smiled at the half neko demon. Smiling back, the half neko brow suddenly furrowed and she slowly asked "I wasn't mistaken during our battle when I heard that you marked me as a mate, was I?"

Blushing a bit, the half dog demon opened his mouth to say something a few times, but quickly shut it when he couldn't find the words to say. Finally, he slowly said "You… You weren't. I … I … I… I did mark you when I was in heat…"

Pulling back and looking away, he quietly said "I'm so very sorry for…"

Without warning, Iya felt a gentle hand be placed on his cheek and turn his face back towards Lilly. Looking into her eyes, he saw nothing but pure love spilling out of them.

"Iya, I'm happy that you marked me." the half neko ventured with a pink blush staining her cheeks. "I want to be with you, if you'll have me. I know I'm not the best mate material, but…"

Receiving a clawed finger across her lips, she saw the half dog demon shaking his head for a moment. "I don't deserve someone as lovely as you, but if you let me, I will try to be someone deserving of you as a mate."

"Iya…" she murmured while noting his lips and her own were slowly being pulled towards one another.

Before they could kiss, Ichigo appeared in the area with a flash. With a skidding stop, he turned towards the pair of half demons, but he instantly turned a shade of crimson upon looking at the pair. He instantly turned away, causing Lilly to cock her head to the side and frown at the behavior of the quarter bobcat.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked with a bit of confusion.

Not looking back towards the pair, he mumbled "Umm… Have you not noticed that you're wearing no clothing?"

Confused by his question, the half neko looked down at her body, causing her face to instantly turn bright red. Letting out a small squeal of surprise, she quickly hid behind Iya and smacked the half dog demon on the back, harshly saying "Why didn't you tell me I was naked!?"

"Uh, well, I hadn't really noticed myself to be honest…" Iya quietly commented while rubbing the back of his head with his one good hand. "I was so happy you were back to normal that it didn't dawn on me."

"Great…" Lilly mumbled while placing her still red face up against the half dog demon's back.

Hiding his laughter, Iya calmly asked "Ichigo, do us a favor and go collect Lilly's clothes and her sword, Kimi, for us, would you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." the quarter demon mumbled with his back to the pair still. In a flash, he was gone, leaving the pair of half demons behind.

"This is so embarrassing…" Lilly grumbled into Iya's back.

Lightly chuckling, the half dog demon replied "Ah, it's not that bad. Here, I'll give you my top till he gets back."

Feeling Iya pulling at his tucked in top and slowly removing it, Lilly softly said "Just don't peek, ok?"

"_It's not like there isn't anything I haven't seen before. I mean, we mated and she helped calm my heat._" Iya mused. After a moment, he quietly replied "Of course, I wouldn't dare think of it."

"Good…"

Finishing removing his top, he handed it back to Lilly, who grabbed it up and slid it on and closed it up. Not long afterwards, Ichigo returned with her clothing and sword. He refused to look in the half neko's direction and set the clothing down on the ground near the pair, along with her sword.

"I'll be waiting behind those trees." the flustered quarter bobcat mumbled while walking off in the direction he had pointed in.

Not looking back at the half neko, who had kept behind himself still, Iya said "I'm going to join him. Go ahead and get dressed."

"Right…"

Leaving the neko to dressing, the half dog found the quarter bobcat quickly and took a seat next to him. Noting how gingerly Iya was holding his left arm, Ichigo asked "Broken I take it?"

Nodding, the half dog demon glanced at the quarter bobcat and saw blood seeping through his black top near his lower stomach and had several slashes with dried blood across his chest. "Are you badly hurt?"

"Nah, just a gut wound and a few minor slashes. Kenshin managed to get one last attack in on me before I killed him off and gave me the gut wound. I'll take care of dressing it soon."

Replying with a nod, Iya remained quiet for a few minutes till finally the voice of Lilly called out "You two can come out now."

Both stood and the two males came out from their hiding place to find the half neko dressed once more in her purple top and skirt, with Kimi proudly hanging off her left hip and Iya's top in her left hand.

"How is the head wound?" Iya questioned.

Pondering on her reply, the half neko quietly said "It hurts a bit, but nothing a little rest can't fix I'm sure."

"I'm glad. I think for now, we all need to rest and recover a bit before trying to catch up with the others." Iya suggested. "I have to set my left arm back in place and splint it, plus Lilly, your head has to be a little painful as well. And then Ichigo needs his gut wound taken care of. Are we all in agreement?"

"Yes." both the half neko and the quarter bobcat replied in unison.

Nodding in reply, Iya calmly said "Then let's get ourselves patched up and rested up. I don't know how Inuyasha, Kagome, and Orihime will do against Kurama, but we'll lend them a hand if we can catch up."

--

Racing along with the dog mage and demon lord leading the way, the group of Kohaku, Rin, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kirara, Ryo, and Sesshomaru made their way through the Southern Lands towards the furthest border of the Eastern and Southern Lands.

Taking a glance out at the landscape, the dog demon lord saw a large set of large rocks off in the distance. Recognizing them, he took in the air and began processing the scents. Finding a familiar one, he slowed, causing the others to do so as well.

At last coming to a stop, the dog lord turned towards the dog mage and said "Ryo, the mages are close."

Sniffing the air, the dog mage nodded his head and replied "That they are, Sesshomaru. I was thinking those rock cliffs were starting to look familiar. We must be getting close."

Receiving a nod, the silver haired dog demon began walking off towards the deep forest nearby at a slow, casual pace. The others quickly fell in line behind him, with the black haired dog mage returning to his place next to the dog demon lord.

After traveling for another few miles, the group came to a stop again, with the demon lord stopping them once more. Sniffing the air deeply a few more times, the stoic dog demon emotionlessly said "They were here this morning."

"Indeed they were, Lord Sesshomaru." Ryo conferred. "The stench of those snake and dog demons is all over this area of forest floor here."

Walking along at a slow pace, the dog lord remained quiet while inhaling the air around him. Finally coming to a stop, he glanced to his left and then to his right. "They split up into two groups."

Sniffing in the directions that the dog lord had been, Ryo's brow furrowed and he nodded in agreement, saying "Yeah, they must have done this to throw us off, hoping that if we split up into two groups we might be easier to pick off."

Silence filled the air for a minute till Sesshomaru spoke up, saying "Ryo of the Wildfire, you shall take the foxes and the neko with you to fight the dog mages."

Turning back towards the group and motioning towards the half wolf and half fire demons, he added "This Sesshomaru, Rin, and Kohaku shall deal with the snake mages."

"Be careful Sesshomaru." Ryo warned. "Those two snake demons are trickier than you think they are. Let's not forget, Ichimaru managed to fool you into following a snake skin clone of his when he attacked Rin last time. And Orochimaru is notorious for his despicable ways."

"This Sesshomaru and present company will deal with the snake mages. Do not worry, Ryo of the Wildfire, for this Sesshomaru's wellbeing."

Cracking a small smirk, the black haired dog demon shrugged and replied "Very well, we'll leave them to you three. Once we finish up with Jiraiya and Tsunade, we'll return to help finish them off."

"It is more like this Sesshomaru and these two shall return to help you." Sesshomaru icily remarked.

Lightly chuckling, Ryo calmly replied "We'll see, old friend. Watch your backs."

"Hn."

Glancing back at the group, the dog mage called out "Let's move out guys!"

Receiving a nod in response, the neko, half red, half silver, and fox kit demons all fell in line behind the black haired dog mage. Together, the five demons took off, leaving the dog demon lord behind with the half wolf and half fire demons.

"Rin, Kohaku, this Sesshomaru is counting on the two of you to deal with the snake mage that cast his spell on Kohaku. Do you understand?"

Both the half wolf and half fire demons each glanced at one another and proceeded to nod, with Rin firmly piping up and saying "Yes Lord Sesshomaru. We can handle the snake mage, Orochimaru."

Nodding at the pair, the stoic demon lord turned in the direction the scent of the snake demons was leading and began walking towards it in his casual slow walk. The pair of half demons quickly formed up behind him, each walking silently in the presence of the dog lord.

--

Standing in a small clearing with his arms crossed, the white haired dog demon mage heavily sighed while glancing over at his blonde headed partner. She was sitting in a tree, staring at the sun that had begun it's slow descent since midday while fingering her crystal necklace that still hung around her neck.

"Tsunade, are you sure you're up for this? If you want, we can just fall back and keep retreating till these two slaves time is over and they become ours by default." Jiraiya suggested while staring at his partner.

Remaining quiet for a half a minute, the female dog demon finally dropped her necklace and stood up from her perch. Leaping to the ground, she stared at the male dog demon with hard golden eyes and firmly said "No, we will fight. I'm not going to run from this fight. These slaves are ours, so there is no need to run from them or anyone else for that matter. After all, we are two of The Thirteen. We don't run."

Lightly sighing, the white haired dog demon nodded, saying "Very well then, we will face them. I just need to know, are you going to be alright for this fight?"

"Don't worry about me." Tsunade remarked in an annoyed tone. "The sooner we finish this fight, the better. I just want to move on and get back to where we no longer have to be near or around those two snakes."

Softly chuckling at the female dog demon's tone, Jiraiya cracked a small smile and calmly said "Alright then, I'll take care of the mage traveling with them. He should be easy enough to get rid of. Once I do, reacquiring our slaves shouldn't be too difficult a task."

"Agreed. Just get rid of that mage quickly. I'm sure the Lord of the West will be too busy with the gruesome twosome to even try and come back and help the dog mage."

Nodding in reply, the white haired dog mage added "And once he is taken care of, our slaves shouldn't put up much resistance."

"Let's get ready then." Tsunade commented while making a few hand signs, which Jiraiya precisely copied.

--

Sniffing the air, the black haired dog mage lightly growled and yelled over his shoulder to the four behind him "We're close, I know it."

Nodding in reply, Sango glanced over at Shippou riding on Miroku's shoulder and called out "Shippou, you and Kirara go hide in the forest."

"But I want to help!" Shippou whined.

"Shippou, we know you want to help, but we're not entirely sure of what these mages are capable of." Miroku calmly remarked. "If you go into battle with us, they may not hesitate to kill you."

Seeing disappointment crossing the fox kit's face, the female half silver fox smiled softly and added "But you can be our backup. If things look like they aren't going our way, you and Kirara are the only two left and will have to come in and lend us a hand. Does that sound fair?"

Perking up slightly and wagging his fluffy tail, Shippou nodded and bravely said "You can count on me!"

"Good, now get going Shippou." Miroku commanded.

Mewing, the neko demon on Sango's shoulder readied herself to leap off, only to hear her mistress say "Kirara, take Shippou and hide somewhere. Protect him, alright?"

Receiving a mew in reply, the neko leapt off of the half silver fox's shoulder and onto the ground. Upon striking it, the small cat was covered in a blaze of flames, which soon revealed her larger cat form. Running along next to the half red fox demon, the large golden cat let out a small meow, signaling the fox kit to leap from the former monk's shoulder and onto the large cat's back. With it's passenger secured, the large black and golden colored cat took to the air and rose above the trees.

Casting a fleeting glance at the two retreating figures in the sky, Sango mumbled "I hope they'll be alright."

"I wouldn't worry Sango." Miroku soothingly remarked. "Kirara will keep him safe, and besides, Shippou is strong enough to take care of himself as well."

"You two should focus on the task at hand instead." Ryo piped up, earning both half demon's attention. "These two dog demons are quite strong."

Nodding in reply, Sango muttered "Yeah, we know. We fought them when we were completely human and that didn't go over so well."

"Let's just hope the two of you have learned enough about your half demon powers to take them on." Ryo dryly remarked.

Casting a sharp glare at the dog mage, Sango smartly replied "I wouldn't worry about us. No matter what, we will stop these mages."

Only nodding in response, the dog mage sped up, causing the two half foxes to match his speed. Soon enough, they came into an open area near a stream, but found no signs of the two dog mages.

Frowning while coming to a stop, Ryo sniffed the air, pulling in all the scents of the clearing. "Where the hell are they!? I know I picked up their scents a few seconds ago, but now it's faint."

Glancing around themselves, the half silver and half red fox demons scanned the surrounding area, but found nothing as well. After a minute or two of looking, Miroku finally asked "Is it possible they're masking their scents and hiding somewhere?"

"Possibly, but why hide now when they had to have known we were coming already?" Ryo grunted out.

Without warning, the ground in front of the black haired dog mage erupted open, revealing the white haired dog mage. Upon being revealed, the white haired mage began a series of hand signs and finally stopped. Smirking, he smugly said "Because we were waiting for you to fall into my trap, fool! Toad Mouth Trap!"

Slamming a palm into the ground before him, the white haired mage let out a grunt. Ryo had no chance at all to react as suddenly red muscular walls of flesh rose up out of the ground and began surrounding him. After only a half a minute, several walls of flesh, forming an oval like structure, completely finished forming.

Removing his hand from the walled flesh, Jiraiya cracked a large smile and smartly tapped the fleshy wall near him. "That should take care of that mutt."

Returning his attention to the two defensive standing half fox demons, the silver hair dog mage smirked and called out "Tsunade, we've got our slaves."

Slowly rising up out of the ground much like Jiraiya had, the blonde haired dog mage smirked and placed her hands on her hips, saying "Fine work Jiraiya."

"What have you done with Ryo!?" Sango angrily spat out while holding her Hiraikotsu in a ready position to throw.

Motioning towards the wall of flesh, Jiraiya smugly said "I've only trapped him within a mountain toad's stomach. They eat fire for food, so your mage friend's magic won't be getting him out of that situation. Eventually, that stomach will kill him."

"Let him out, now!" Miroku hissed.

Chuckling, Jiraiya asked "And why should I do that?"

Growling lowly, Sango spat back "Because if you don't, we'll just have to make you do it."

"Oh please, don't patronize us." Tsunade interrupted. Shrugging, she smartly said "I hope you two didn't forget our last battle. Neither of you were able to lay a hand on us. If you think now that you are half demons that you stand a chance, you're both sadly mistaken."

"We'll see, won't we?" Miroku spoke up while flexing his claws.

Both half demons crouched down onto all fours, with the two dog mages watching each intently. "Jiraiya, it seems our slaves wish to play. How amusing, wouldn't you say?" Tsunade mused.

Lightly chuckling, the white haired dog mage replied "Very, but I have little patience for these games. It's been over a month since I've had the ability to release my urges, so I'll have to make quick work of my slave."

"And it's been just as long for me, perv." Tsunade added. "I think playing with this slave will be fun, but once I've had my fill, I'll take him long and hard."

"Enough of this!" Sango hissed. With her words said, she charged forward towards the male dog demon, who smirked.

Leaping backwards away from the half silver fox demon, the dog mage glanced over his shoulder and smugly said "I love feisty lovers! I can't wait to have you all to myself."

"You won't have to wait long!" Sango snarled. Pulling a seed from her hair, she poured green demonic energy into it, transforming it at once into a rose. Upon it's growth, the half silver fox poured more green demonic energy into the rose, causing it to take on another transformation and into a whip.

Flicking the whip forward till it ensnared the mage's ankle, Sango came to a dead stop and jerked back the whip with all her might. This caught the dog mage off guard and made him gasp while he was flung backwards and onto the ground about ten feet away from the half silver fox.

Feeling the whip release him, the dog mage inspected his ankle and saw that the thorns of the whip had dug into his skin slightly, but not too deeply. They had dug in only deep enough to break his skin and draw a small amount of blood. Standing with the scent of his own blood in his nose, the dog demon lightly growled and smartly said "So, you've developed your plant powers. I didn't think you would be able to. Most of my slaves have to learn to use their powers after I have fully taken them. It seems you're a bit more gifted than the other women I've captured."

"Don't flatter yourself, you bastard!" Sango growled out. "I learned to use my powers and now I'm going to crush you with all of them. I will not be a slave to someone like you, nor anyone!"

"We'll see, won't we my dear?" Jiraiya smugly remarked.

Readying herself, Sango firmly said "You're overconfident Jiraiya, and that will be your downfall."

"I have no reason not to be. I'm a powerful dog demon and mage, and you are nothing more than a human, turned half silver fox demon, and are pathetically weak compared to me."

"Is that so?" Sango challenged with a raised eyebrow. "Then you won't mind when I kick your ass!"

Shifting her whip into her left hand, the female half silver fox demon grasped hold of the handle of her large boomerang and pulled it off of her back. Whipping it around a few good times, she flung it at the mage, crying out "Hiraikotsu!"

Readying himself for the boomerang, the mage pulled back his right hand and prepared to unload a heavy laden fist into the boomerang, but never got the chance as the weapon suddenly took on a new direction. Gasping at this, he glanced back at the female half demon and noted that she had her whip extended and now attached to the handle of the large boomerang.

"You caught your own weapon with your whip!?" Jiraiya asked in confusion.

Smirking slyly, Sango smartly replied "I did, but you'll find out why I did soon enough!"

Slinging the whip around her body while the large boomerang was still attached, the female half demon slung the whip towards the mage. At the same time, the boomerang was released from the whip's hold, sending it spinning off towards the mage as well. All at once, the boomerang suddenly sprouted thorns that covered most of it's surface. At the same time, the whip that had small mild thorns sprouted thicker thorns as well, making it a much more dangerous weapon.

Seeing the incoming weapons, the dog mage leapt out of the way of the boomerang just in time, with the edge of it catching onto his black robes and tearing them. Jiraiya wasn't as lucky with the whip, for it reached out and struck his right hand, leaving a bloody trail where the thorns had dug in.

Watching the boomerang returning towards her, the half silver fox slung her whip around while the thorns on it detracted to a smaller length. The whip latched back onto the handle of the boomerang, causing the thorns on it to shrink and fade away as well.

Gritting his teeth from the small wave of pain that flashed through his body, the mage lowly growled out "I see, you've been practicing with those powers for a while. You've been honing your skills and learning how to use a combo of the Rose Whip and your Hiraikotsu. A combination of the two is most impressive."

Ripping his black set of robes off, the mage reveal a dull olive colored kimono top and pants, with a red vest that reached past his butt, a chainmesh undershirt, and a large scroll hanging right above his butt on his lower back.

"I guess I'm going to have to get more serious with you. I had planned on going easy on you and making sure you weren't hurt. It's always been a policy of mine to make sure whatever woman I took as a slave was never roughed up."

Pausing for a moment, the mage glared at Sango and added "But that isn't going to be the case this time. I can see you're very different from all of the other slaves I've taken before. All of them gave up and accepted their lots, but you, you're different. You were a demon slayer before I met you, so I knew you would be strong, but this strong, heh, I didn't even think about it. So now I'm in a predicament where I have no choice but to fight the slave that I wish to possess. I could do the cowardly thing and run away, but I don't think so."

"No, that would not work, because I see it in your eyes. You'd track me down quickly and we'd end up in the same result. Instead, I'm going to handle this like it should be and I'll fight you. Once I've proven you can't beat me, I expect you will just give up and come to me, like you should."

Glaring at the mage, Sango snarled out "I wouldn't count on it! You will never break my resolve to be free!"

"Never say never, my luscious fox." Jiraiya smartly replied.


	50. Chapter 49: Dog Fight, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, this past week has been relatively busy. Like majorly, lol. Saturday, we took mine and my mate's old bedroom furniture down to her mom's place, which was good to have rid of it so we could make room for our new suite that comes in today. Sunday, we slept a bit due that neither of us slept well Saturday night (we're sleeping in my older bedroom suit, which has a totally different feel to it than our old set). Monday and yesterday, I spent the evenings helping my dad out in the hayfield, for we're nearly finished with it. I get a break tonight, although we have to go grocery shopping, so yay. Plus, things are work are hectic, with our project coming to an end soon and it needs testing, plus some bug squashing. Then home life is just as hectic, with me growing a touch irritated with my mate the last few days, but it's just minor things and we've worked it out. Other than that, life is just busy, lol.**

**Writing wise, I'm working hard on keeping this story going, no matter what. I've fallen so far behind on writing chapters that it's sad on both of my stories. I will have a chapter ready for next week, so no worries. I will do whatever I can to keep this story consistently posting chapters on Wednesday, so bear with me.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**reanabff: Hey once more to you too. It's cool about missing some of my story. Life happens, and I don't expect everyone to be here 24/7, so no worries. Yes, it's nice to be back from my previous vacation. As for when this story will end, I'm unsure. If I keep up the hard work, I'm thinking maybe by Christmas, but I'm not sure. That's the longest estimate I have. Short term, I'd say November maybe… I just don't know. Sorry I can't say for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Inuyasha05: Glad to see you back. Heh, Kenshin is an interesting anime. I bought my mate the whole DVD set back this past winter. She watched all of it, but I watched part of it with her. The movies were pretty cool too. Glad you like what I've done with this story since you have been gone. Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: It's cool about not responding. Life happens, so don't worry about it. Glad you liked this chapter. Yeah, things should be interesting with the next two mages. It's cool about it being a short review. Being sick sucks. I hope you get better. Thanks for the review!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Yeah, Sango, Kagome, and Rin may want to kill the mages that cast a spell on them quickly before the spells finalize. Heh, possibly Kohaku could have a very bad time soon. Lol, sorry Shiro, no fighting Orochimaru for you. Your idea for what could happen with the gang is interesting, but alas, I didn't think about doing that. True, Ichimaru should have been a fox since he is a fox faced man, but I think a snake is better for him, at least personality wise. True, I should bring in the Quincy's, but I don't know. We'll see on that. Thanks for the review!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yep, Sango is kicking butt, hehe. Glad you liked the chapter. Heh, the whole thing with Shippou is just for his protection more or less. They didn't want him in the way or to get hurt. Like he always says, he's just a kid, lol, but truthfully, they didn't want him in any danger. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all five of you, for them. I really appreciate all of them, and I appreciate the add to my alerts there Inuyasha05.**

**At any rate, this has taken forever to finish (the reviews part) due to work, so I need to run. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 49**

Staring at the blonde haired dog mage nearby, Miroku slowly said "As a gentleman, I always swore to never hit a lady, even one as beautiful as yourself, lady mage."

"But in this case, I must break that rule. You see, my freedom depends on me defeating you, so don't think that being a woman I will go easy on you."

"You should have learned from our last encounter my little fox that I will not go easy on you either." Tsunade brashly remarked. "After all, it only took a few punches to stop your struggling."

Putting her left arm behind her back, the female mage held out one hand and exactly one finger up while the rest where curled up, saying "It will only take one finger to make you come with me. That's all it took last time to stop you, remember?"

A small memory of the day the female mage had come into his life and turned it upside down registered within the former monk's mind. The very memory of how the mage had stopped his staff with a single finger while he had put all his physical strength into his attack played over in his mind.

Shaking himself of the memory, he softly smiled and replied "That was then, and this is now. I'm different from then, and I know I can beat you."

"You are mistaken then." Tsunade bit out.

Smirking, the former monk turned half red fox demon charged forward towards the female dog mage, saying "Then let's find out!"

Swinging his staff at the female mage, the half fox demon grunted out when she managed to stop his attack with a single finger like before. Pushing more strength into his staff, he tried to budge the mage, but like their previous battle, the mage held the staff completely still.

"I like this new staff of yours. It completes your new look. Too bad you can't realize that you are no match for me." Tsunade remarked in a bored tone.

Growling lightly, Miroku suddenly smirked while green flames shot up the staff from both of his hands. At once, the staff heated up, making the female mage release her finger. Taking advantage of the mage's shocked state, the half red fox advanced on the female mage and swung again at her with his staff. Lifting a finger to defend herself like before, the mage hissed out in pain when the staff instead cut into her finger, causing her to leap backwards while placing her finger in her mouth. Pulling it back out, it was revealed to have a small trail of blood dripping down it.

Staring at the blood on her finger, the blonde haired mage turned a furious look towards the half red fox, snarling out "You bastard, you actually cut me!"

"I'll do more than that if you continue to fight me. Just make it easier on both of us and give up this fight." Miroku firmly retorted.

Bursting out loud laughing the female mage pointed at the former monk and smugly replied "You've got to be joking! Me, a member of The Thirteen, surrender to you, a lowly half demon slave? Oh please, don't patronize me."

"I won't hesitate to fight you with all the power I have if you decide to continue this fight."

Shaking her head slightly, Tsunade smirked once more and shrugged her shoulders, saying "I guess I'll just have to teach you not to disrespect your master. This will be a painful lesson, trust me."

"We'll see about that…" Miroku retorted while glaring at the mage.

Jamming the rod end of his staff into the ground, the half red fox raised his two hands in front of his body. Using two fingers, his index and middle, from each hand, he formed a cross formation, making Tsunade's eyes widen a fraction.

Seeing her look of surprise and worry, Miroku grinned and called out "Katon Bushin!"

Green flames instantly shot up from the ground around the half red fox demon, with each set slowly contracting and contorting into a shape. The flames soon dissipated, revealing nine new clones of the half red fox demon, each with mischief flashing in their eyes.

"What do you think Tsunade, impressed that I learned to use some of my Fox Fire skills?" one of the half red fox demons questioned with a smirk.

Regaining her composure, the dog demon growled lowly and readied herself for combat, saying "You may have learned to use some of your half demon's form's powers, but that won't change a thing against me. I'll still force you to give up and come crying back to me. It's only a matter of time."

"We'll see about that, won't we?" the ten Miroku's challenged back while each readied themselves for a fight as well.

Neither side made a move for nearly a minute while a gentle breeze blew through the area, which softly rustled all of the fighters' hair and clothing. At long last, the female dog demon had enough of waiting and charged forward with her black robes flapping around her. Arriving at the first half red fox demon, she struck out with a blue glowing right fist.

The half red fox demon was quicker than the dog demon though, and managed to just barely miss her attack. The ten backed up some, with each resuming a formation they had previously been in once more.

Nodding to one another, each half fox demons raised a right hand while shifting their staff to their left hand. Each of the half fox demons right hands instantly filled with green flames. Racing forward towards the bewildered dog mage, the ten half fox demons encircled the mage and began circling her at high speed. Simultaneously, each of the ten released a small blast of green flames at the mage, each crying out "Fox Fire!"

Shielding her face with her arms, the mage let out a small hiss as the green flames scorched portions of her skin and lit her robes on fire. With the flames dying down, she patted out the small fire that had caught on her robes and let out a low growl.

Letting out a light grunt of irritation, the mage pulled on the cords of her robes and ripped them open. She instantly shed the robes, exposing the clothing she had underneath. Her clothing consisted of a gray sleeveless shirt, which displayed her large cleavage, a blue obi with blue pants, and blue high heels. Around her neck appeared a necklace that dipped down into her cleavage that appeared to be a rough cut crystal of some kind.

"You will pay for that, you naughty fox." Tsunade growled out. "I like to be physical with my slaves, but you are the first to fight back. Admittedly, I'm impressed by your effort, but I must tell you, it is angering as well. For it, you will pay."

Cracking a small mischievous grin, the half red fox demons replied together "Come make us."

Lifting a glowing blue right fist up, the female mage icily replied "I shall."

Without another word, the female mage streaked towards the ten half red fox demons, who all readied themselves for battle. Reaching the closest target, the female mage struck out at the half red fox demon, only to miss by a few inches. With the mage distracted and focused on the single half fox, the other nine half fox demons charged towards the mage, each with their staffs swinging for the female mage.

Seeing the incoming staffs, the female dog demon dropped down and planted her hands firmly on the ground and pushed her lower body upwards. Spreading her legs, she began rotating on her hands and kicked out at the nine attackers, surprising all of them and knocking their staffs away and forcing them to regroup a short distance away.

Spinning herself back around and leaping backwards a few feet, the female mage landed onto the ground and stood up straight. Smirking, she calmly asked "What's the matter, my sexy fox? A bit afraid of my strength?"

Staring at the female mage for a moment, the ten half demon foxes readied themselves for another assault. Racing forward, the ten began encircling the mage once more like they had previously, with each raising a green fiery fist while shifting their staffs into their left hands.

"This trick again, please." Tsunade prissily remarked.

Ignoring the mage, the ten half fox demons cried out "Fox Fire!"

Just as the ten were about to release their attacks, the female dog mage lifted a blue glowing right fist into the air. With a quick motion, the mage ground her glowing fist into the ground below her, causing the earth beneath her feet to suddenly began crackling before exploding. The explosion suddenly enlarge and created a ten foot deep crater with it's diameter being twenty feet. Instantly, once the crater began forming, the blonde haired mage took to the air, leaving the shocked half fox demons behind. A series of nine green flamed explosions ensued, causing the whole area to become covered in smoke and smoldering green flames while the female dog demon landed safely thirty feet away.

Slowly, the dust and smoke settled, revealing the collapsed crater. On the outer edge of it, Miroku shakily stood and dusted off his clothing while coughing lightly. Knocking all of the dust off of his body, he leapt out of the crater and onto the undamaged ground while still patting himself and trying to get more of the dust off.

"Well my mischievous fox, have you had enough yet?" Tsunade slyly asked.

Glaring at the female mage, Miroku jammed the rod end of his staff into the ground and reached up to his right shoulder. In a simple motion, he removed the cape that was draped across his right shoulder in a flash and tossed it to the ground. Holding out his hands and forming a cross shaped hand sign like before, he cried out "Hardly! Katon Bushin!"

Frowning while multiple small towers of green flames erupted in the area, the female mage heavily sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I see you have no intentions of taking the easy way out. I must give you this much credit, you're braver than I thought you were, or maybe dumber. Either one, you will submit to me."

"NEVER!" numerous Miroku clones screamed back with half of them charging the female mage.

Readying herself, the female mage raised both fists up, which were both glowing with a light blue aura. The first double ganger to reach her received a heavy blow to the stomach for his troubles, causing the fake half red fox demon to explode into a small ball of green flames. The female mage didn't even bother shielding herself from the flames while continuing to eye each and every charging half fox demon.

Five more charged her at the same time, this time with her dodging each and swinging around with a mighty kick that destroyed two of the attackers. Still spinning back around, she slammed a heavy fist into the closest one, then quickly spun around and struck the other two with a flying spin kick. All five instantly exploded into small balls of green flames, leaving her staring at the remainder of the Miroku look-a-likes.

The remaining clones slightly shifted uneasily, with all seemingly hesitating on charging the female mage. At long last, three charged forward, causing the other remaining eleven to join in. Cracking a cold smirk, the female mage leapt high into the air, earning her the attention of most of the clones while some fell back a bit. Coming down quickly with her right leg extended above her head, the female mage slammed it heavily into the ground, causing the ground to shutter immediately and give way. Like with her fist before, the ground crumbled away into a ten foot deep crater, which took out almost all of the close by half fox demon look-a-likes, leaving only two behind.

The remaining two half fox demons glanced at one another before finally one charged the female mage with his staff glowing with green flames. Rolling her golden eyes, the female dog demon easily dodged the incoming swing that the half fox demon attacked with, shocking him somewhat. Easily, she buried her right fist into the half red foxes gut, causing a bone crushing sound to fill the air. A moment later, the half fox demon burst into green flames and was no more, leaving the remaining lone half red fox demon staring at the female mage.

"And then there was one. How pitiful you truly are my little love fox." Tsunade remarked with a small smirk. Tossing one of her ponytails off her shoulder and back behind her, she added "But then again, you're facing a mage who has more power in her little pinky than you have in your whole body."

Growling lowly, Miroku charged the female mage, who seemed unafraid. Raising his right hand, the half red fox fired a blast of green flames straight for the female mage, who used her right fist to block it. Continuing forward towards the dog demon, the half fox demon fired blasts of green flames over and over at the mage, only to have them blocked each time. Finally reaching the mage, the former monk grabbed hold of his staff with both hands and swung at the mage. She ducked at the last possible second and swung a might left fist into the half red fox's stomach, who let out a strangled gasp from the intense pain.

"Looks like you lose, my little slave." Tsunade gloated. "I've not had a man for over a month, and I need one soon. I'll enjoy taking you and doing…"

Without warning, the half red fox suddenly exploded into green flames, making the female mage cover her face. The flames soon died down, allowing the dog demon to get her bearings once more.

"What the devil!?" the female mage roared while glancing around. She didn't have to look far, for a glowing green blaze suddenly appeared with only ten feet between the mage and itself.

With the blaze fading, the half red fox appeared within it, who had a smirk on his face while he had his hands held out before his body with a sphere of green flames within them.

"Let's see how you handle this one! Fox Fire Spiral!"

Blazing straight towards the female dog demon, a stream of green flames began spinning rapidly in the shape of a spiral. With only a few feet between itself and the female mage, the flames suddenly split off into five directions, with two going to the left and the right of the female mage, another going into the air, another straight for the mage, and one coming to a stop. The four streams soon began spinning around the female mage, with the two on the sides of the mage tightening around her, the one that had went straight for her dropping lower and encircling around her legs, and the final one covering her neck tightly.

The mage began struggling against the flames, but quickly found she couldn't break free. A sense of panic instantly began filling the mage when she realized the flames were fully holding her, even with all her superior strength. Suddenly, she took notice of the final set of green flames that had come to a stop and noted it was beginning to race towards her while spiraling fast. In a flash, the flames struck her hard in the body, easily burning through her gray shirt and piercing her body. The mage let out a scream of agony from the intense pain and felt the green flames finally release her and let her drop to the ground.

Reaching down tenderly towards her chest where the flames had hit her and she expected to find a gaping hole, she gasped when she found no wounds, only a few minor burns on her exposed skin. Looking up towards the half red fox, she saw him smirking triumphantly while lightly chuckling.

"Surprised, aren't you Lady Tsunade? Well, you should be a bit surprised I suppose." Miroku smartly remarked. "You see, that attack I hit you with was my Fox Fire Spiral. As you know, like all red foxes, I have to rely on illusions and trickery to beat my opponents due that we don't have much strength, but my attack I just delivered was a bit different. True, it didn't do any real harm, but it did frighten you enough to think you had been fatally struck. That was the illusion part of my attack. In reality, you only received a few burns, but you didn't know it. You expected to be dying. That was just a sample of what I can do if you choose to continue this battle."

Quieting for a moment, he humbly said "I am not one to wish to kill for no reason. I beseech you, Lady Tsunade, let us end this senseless fight. Release me from your spell. There is no need for us to fight."

Clenching her fists tightly till her knuckles turned white, the blonde haired mage angrily yelled "I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL OF!"

Watching the mage charging towards him with a glowing blue fist, Miroku let out a ragged sigh. "Great, so much for hoping I could reason with her."

--

Glancing around his prison for the millionth time for any signs of an exit near where smoke was slowly rising, Ryo let out an exasperated sigh. "_No matter what I do, nothing seems to penetrate this damn wall lining!_"

Sensing he was growing a bit angrier, the mage took a deep breath and closed his eyes and began counting backwards from ten to zero. Seemingly calmed, he opened his blue eyes slowly and looked over the walls of flesh once more. Seeing no daylight still, he let out a ragged sigh.

"I guess I have no choice but to try again." he softly muttered.

Performing a series of hand signs, he began building up his demonic power in eager readiness to release more of his power. Finishing his hand signs, he took a deep breath and mentally cried out "_Fire Style! Katon Karyuu Endan!_"

Letting out his held breath, the dog mage released a stream of fire, which instantly took the shape and form of a wingless dragon. The dragon let out a loud roar, causing a massive echoing effect throughout the fleshy prison. Racing forward, the dragon slammed heavily into one of the far walls of the flesh prison, causing heat to instantly fill the area. The flames continued burning up against the fleshy walls for a minute till finally Ryo could no longer spew flames from his mouth.

Stopping his flames, a bit of smoke escaped his mouth. Glancing at the spot on the wall that he had struck, he frowned upon discovering like his previous attacks, this one had no affect on the walls.

"Damn it, not even a single scorch mark to show where I hit it!" he growled out.

Clenching his fists tightly, he folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. "_Now what!? I've tried most of my fire attacks on this thing, yet nothing works on this freaking flesh. Any other flesh would have melted by now, but this thing seems fire resistant._"

"_Because we were waiting for you to fall into my trap, fool! __Toad Mouth Trap!_"

Snapping his eyes open upon hearing the words that Jiraiya had said in his head, Ryo lightly growled. "_That's why I can't damage those walls! His spell, it summons the stomach of a creature I remember hearing about known as the mountain toad. They're stomachs are said to be fire resistant due that they eat fire itself. I would be willing to bet my other spells won't have any affect either since my primary attribute is fire._"

"_I could try using my Armor of Wildfire against this thing, but knowing my luck, it would just absorb the fiery power of my armor instead of doing any damage at all. And I know for certain I don't have enough strength in any other elements to effectively destroy those walls. I could probably deal them a small amount of damage, but that's it._"

Once more letting out a ragged sigh, the mage closed his eyes. Sitting down onto the ground, he felt his mind calming and remained still.

"_The best solution for the time being is for me to remain calm and wait for the others to break me out. Once Sango and Miroku finish with Jiraiya and Tsunade, I'll be freed. I just have to have faith in those two and hope that they can in. I can still sense their demonic auras, and they're both rather strong, so I know for sure they'll be alright for the time being. Still, those mages seem to be holding back, more than likely so they don't kill their slaves. I just hope those two find an opening on those mages and end it._"

--

Dodging the large thorn covered boomerang once more, the white haired dog mage began lightly panting while watching the boomerang fly back towards the female half silver fox, who flicked her rose whip out and took hold of the handle on the boomerang. She instantly began spinning the whip and boomerang around her body with a small smirk on her face.

Whipping a small amount of blood off of his right cheek where the whip had a few minutes before grazed him, the mage smirked and began chuckling while watching the slightly panting figure of his opponent.

"Throwing that weapon around, along with using your fox powers over nature is beginning to take it's toll on you, isn't it my dear?" the mage smartly questioned.

Lightly growling at this, Sango began to say something back, but stopped and pursed her lips for a moment. "Your analysis of me does you no good Jiraiya. You can't get near me without fear of getting caught up in my rose whip. And as long as you remain at a distance, I can still throw Hiraikotsu at you, meaning you'll have to keep moving."

"It's a sound strategy, I'll give you that." Jiraiya quipped. "Against a weaker opponent, that very strategy would probably keep you alive for many hours till they got tired or made a mistake, then you'd move in for the kill."

Pausing for a moment, the mage smirked and added "But with me, it's not the same. You see, thus far, I haven't been trying too hard to get in close to you. To be honest, I've been admiring your tactics and pure strength more than anything."

"Plus watching that beautiful body of yours perform is pure bliss." the white haired mage dreamily said with sparkling eyes and a bit of blush.

Casting a fierce glare at the mage, Sango snarled out "You damn perv, take this, Hiraikotsu!"

Flinging the whip towards the mage, the half silver fox had her whip release the handle of the boomerang weapon, sending it rapidly spinning towards the dog demon. At the same time, the female half demon swung her whip around and flipped it out towards the mage. Her clawed hand holding the whip glowed with a light green aura for a moment, causing thorns to sprout out from the vines that covered the boomerang weapon and the whip.

Watching the incoming attack, the elder dog demon smirked. With only a few feet to spare, the mage leapt high into the air to avoid the boomerang.

Seeing the mage in the air, Sango flicked her whip to change it's course towards the mage, declaring "I have you now!"

"Not quite, my fair lady." Jiraiya confidently remarked while performing a series of hand signs and taking a deep breath. Finishing up, he mentally cried out "_Fire Style! Katon Goukakyuu!_" and spat a stream of flames at the oncoming whip.

The whip was instantly burnt into nothingness, surprising the female half demon. Using this to his advantage, the mage began his descent from the air and slammed hard onto the ground. Racing forward with his wooden sandals slapping the ground and making loud clogging noises, he reached the stunned half demon and slammed a heavy fist into her stomach, making Sango double over in pain and fall to the ground. There, she weakly coughed and spat up a small amount of blood onto the ground while the large bone boomerang slammed into the ground nearby and came to rest.

Staring down at the slightly trembling figure of the half silver fox, Jiraiya's eyes softened slightly, but he remained ready to strike. "Do you see now what I meant earlier? You are no match for me."

Slowly raising her face up to glare at the dog demon, Sango raised a hand and used the back of it to wipe the blood off of the corner of her mouth. In a snarl, she spat out "I will not submit to your will! You'll have to kill me before you'll ever control me!"

Heavily sighing, the dog mage began to say something when he suddenly noted that the half fox demon's right hand was glowing green and pressed to the ground. Lightly grunting, the mage quickly side stepped a set of roots coming up out of the ground. They had sharp points, but missed their target by a few inches. Spinning around, the mage struck out at the female half demon with his right leg, slamming a heavy right foot into her head. The half silver fox's head slammed instantly onto the ground with a heavy thud, making her grunt out in pain while laying still.

Straightening himself, Jiraiya cast a fierce glare at the female half demon and growled out "Stay down!"

Noting the female half demon wasn't moving, the mage let out a small sigh and moved his hands out before his body and began a series of hand signs. Just as he finished, he saw the half demon beginning to shift slightly, with her hair moving away from her neck, revealing two dots. Upon seeing the dots on her neck, the dog mage's eyes widened a fraction and he dropped his hands.

Moving closer, Jiraiya reached out and pulled the collar of Sango's kimono top downwards slightly in order to examine the two dots on her neck closer. Cringing at the feeling of the mage touching her, Sango weakly growled out, but Jiraiya didn't release her. Finally finishing his examination, the mage gently released the half silver fox from his grip, allowing her to slightly relax.

Remaining quiet for a few moments while staring at the half silver fox with a puzzled look, the mage released a heavy sigh. "I see, while I was away, you were mated."

Defiantly looking back up at the mage, Sango lowly growled and angrily replied "What of it!?"

"It is a cardinal rule of mine to never take a slave who is mated."

Eyes widening in surprise, she slowly asked "What?"

"I don't take slaves that are mated." Jiraiya repeated. With a heavy sigh, he added "It has always been my personal credo to never take a person away from the one that they love, no matter how much I want someone. If two people share that deep a bond, who am I to break a bond that deep."

Pausing for a moment, the mage said "I just want to know one thing though. The one you mated with, it's that half red fox that Tsunade is trying to take as her slave, isn't it?"

Hesitant to answer for a moment, Sango slowly stood and slightly nodded her head. A small smile played upon the white haired dog demon's lips upon receiving his answer. "I knew that it had to be. I have another question for you though, and I want you to answer truthfully. I'll know due to your scent if you're not."

Staring her straight in the eye, he calmly asked "Do you love him?"

"Yes, with all of my heart and soul." Sango replied without any hesitation in her voice.

Folding his arms over his chest, the mage nodded his head and closed his eyes. With a slight sigh, he reopened them, revealing softer seeming eyes. "I thought as much."

Biting her lower lip slightly, the half demon hesitated for a moment, but finally slowly asked "Why, why are you doing this?"

"Because, like I told you, taking a slave that is mated goes against my…"

"I know that, but why does it?" Sango questioned with a touch of impatience.

Lightly smirking at the half demon, Jiraiya calmly replied "It's all due to what happened many years ago."

Glancing up at the sky, he continued on, saying "Back before Tsunade and I joined The Thirteen, we were living with our clan. You see, our clan had left the Western Lands many years ago, right before the former Lord of the Western Lands, Inutaisho Taisho, had taken over rule. Their reasons for leaving were due that our clan didn't get to have someone in it take over as Lord of the Western Lands. Anyways, this isn't important."

"What is important is what happened many years ago when I was young, along with Tsunade. She had mated nearly a year before when this incident happened. We were each only in our twenties at the time. The two of us were like brother and sister, though neither of us was related to one another at all."

Slightly smiling, the elder mage said "Back then, Tsunade was so happy. Her mate, Don, was completely devoted to her. I was meanwhile searching for a mate, but was striking out rather often. She teased me about it a bit, but in a sisterly way."

"And then things went so horribly wrong for her…" Jiraiya darkly muttered with his face becoming a bit darkened.

"Don, Tsunade, and I were out one day, enjoying one another's company when without reason or provocation, a powerful bear demon approached us. Upon seeing Tsunade, the bear became intrigued with her and declared that she was to become his. Don naturally came to her defense and told the bear to leave, but the bear refused. With the bear's refusal, Don decided to kill the bear since it wouldn't stop it's advances. He ordered both of us to stay out of the fight, that he would take care of the bear demon."

Looking downwards at the ground, he quietly said "That was a mistake on our parts. The fight between the two was horrific, with Don in the end killing the bear, but he was fatally injured from the fight. Tsunade had been training to become a healer mage for quite a few years, so she began applying first aid to him, but unfortunately, her powers were not developed enough to fully treat Don's wounds. In the end, Don died within Tsunade's arms while she begged him to stay with her."

Pausing for a moment, Jiraiya finally continued on, saying "The lesson was hard for both Tsunade and I, but I learned something important from it in the end. I learned that no one has the right to take away another person's mate, no matter what. No one has the right to break a bond that deep. Out of respect and memory of Don, I have never taken another person's mate as a slave. That is why I can no longer take you as a slave."

Staring at the dog demon for a minute in silence, Sango finally spoke up and said "I don't understand, what are you and the others trying to achieve? You seem like an honorable demon, but yet you belong to The Thirteen. What is it you and the others are trying to accomplish?"

"I suppose now that I am going to release you, there is no harm in telling you what our true purpose is." Jiraiya answered. Taking a deep breath, he calmly said "What we, The Thirteen, are trying to accomplish is rather simple. We wish to stop all of this squabbling between the four lands, and to merge them all into one. Each of the leaders of the four lands are different in many ways."

"The Lord of the South is a cruel water elemental demon called Aikamaru, who dreams of taking over all four of the great lands for himself, but he lacks the army to do so. He is arrogant and cares nothing for his people, other than if they can help him achieve his objective. If they cannot, they are useless to him."

"Then there is the Lord of the East, who is a goat demon named Yomi. He is opportunistic and wishes to take over all the lands as well, but is more patient and less rash than Aikamaru. He has been waiting for years for the right moment, never acting out irrationally. This is due that many years ago, not long after he became ruler of the Eastern Lands, he was blinded in a battle, but that has not stopped him from becoming more powerful. Without his sight, he has become truly strong, but like I said, he sits and waits for the right moment to strike, or until someone kills him off."

"Next is the Lord of the North, Kouga, who is a cocky weakling of a wolf demon. He has little power of his own, and is brash, arrogant, and foolish in nature. Of the four though, he cares most for his lands, but is truly the weakling of the four, with him relying heavily upon the promise that the Western Lands will help defend the Northern Lands."

"Finally, there is the Lord of the West, the most foolish of all the four lords. The foolish dog demon, Sesshomaru, relies on no one for help, thinking that his own power alone is enough to defeat anyone who threatens the Western Lands, although he is by far the most likely to be able to defeat any of the other lords in battle. Still, he is foolish and cruel to anyone who stands in his way. To top it off, he hates all humans and half breeds. That will be his undoing."

Pausing for a few moments, Jiraiya added "With lords like that to govern the four lands, it is easy to see why we, the members of The Thirteen, wish to take them out and unite the four lands into one. Without these four demons controlling a set of lands, all of Japan will become united and fight as one against anything that comes our way, and that will make this country stronger."

"And what will you mages gain in this?" Sango challengingly asked. "With the defeat of the four lords, that will leave your group as the strongest demons. What do you plan to do from then on?"

"We will remain as protectors for the new nation created." Jiraiya responded calmly.

Cocking an eyebrow, Sango replied "Is that so? I'm guessing that in return for your protection, each of you will demand a slave every so often."

"It is a small thing to ask, but yes, we will probably once our slaves die."

Frowning, the half silver fox countered with "But yet I pose you this question Jiraiya. If this has been the plan for The Thirteen since day one, why has your group waited so long to pull this off? The four lands have been ripe for the taking for many years. For that matter, when the former Lord of the Western Lands, Inutaisho Taisho, died years ago, you could have easily taken over those lands. Yet, The Thirteen has waited while your numbers have dwindled down to seven members only. Tell me, why wait for so long?"

Beginning to answer, the dog mage stopped. He opened his mouth and closed it several times before his brow furrowed and he folded his arms over his chest. Remaining silent for a few minutes, he at long last broke his silence, saying "I'm not sure myself… Byakuya has led us all these years, saying an opportunity will present itself. For that matter, during all these years when Iya Taisho began cutting down our numbers, he made no move to stop the half demon. He always said he was nothing more than a nuisance and not worth bothering with, but now I wonder…"

"Jiraiya, I pose you another thought. Right now, with the way things are, the four lands are equal. No demon lord dares to attack the other. If one did, that would leave three, but one would be exceptionally weakened due to the battle with the former fourth lord. That would cause the other two to plan to attack, and possibly end it to where none or one stands. As of right now, they are in equilibrium, with all four not daring to be the first to step out of line and attack one of the other three remaining. In that point and case, there is no point for The Thirteen to kill off the demon lords. If they remain as they are, nothing will happen till someone undermines their authority, or the lords are forced out of power eventually."

Processing the words the female half silver fox had spoken, the dog demon's brow furrowed even more. At long last, he clenched his fists tightly and threw them to the sides of his body. In a low snarl, he growled out "Byakuya, you bastard, you lied to us for all these years, and yet we all blindly and loyally followed. Not once did I ever think that he was wrong, and now I realize I was a blind and mute fool."

"I should have realized he was wrong when we began losing members due to that half demon, Iya Taisho. It took one hundred years for Byakuya to allow Kenpachi a chance to go fight the half demon, and when it happened, we all expected Kenpachi to slaughter the half demon. Instead, we found out a few days later that Kenpachi had been slain in battle, along with his slave. We were all beside ourselves with shock, but wished to take vengeance. It was Byakuya who stopped us and said not to trouble ourselves with that half demon at the time. Again, years later, we decided to rid ourselves of Iya, only to finally have Byakuya send the Elric brothers to kill him. Once more, we were confident that they could get the job done, but we were disappointed again by their deaths. We tried to persuade him at this time that Iya was truly a threat, but he had nothing to do with it, dismissing us as paranoid. Years passed by and eventually Byakuya finally allowed three young mages to go fight Iya and his partner, Ichigo Kurosaki. The three were Anko, Sakura, and Tōshirō. Each were exceptionally gifted young mages, with Tsunade training Sakura and Orochimaru training Anko. When the three were killed in battle, we were more than outraged."

Quieting for a moment, he softly added "The loss of Sakura was hard to Tsunade, changing her outlook on life completely. With all three of the young mages dead, we tried again to persuade Byakuya to allow us to fight Iya and his partner, but again he would not budge on the issue. I only begin to ponder now if he didn't care that any of us died, if all that mattered was what he wanted. And I wonder if he had a secret agenda. If that is the case, then all that we've done has been for nothing."

"Jiraiya…" Sango mumbled while staring at the dog mage with a touch of sympathy in her eyes. "You have to let this go. There is still time to make things right. Help us, please. Help us to stop Byakuya before he can set his true plans into motion. If he has a separate agenda, now is the time to stop him."

Watching the dog mage's brow furrow once more, the female half demon took a step to the dog mage and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, earning her his attention immediately. "Jiraiya, help us bring these struggles to an end. There is no need to spill anymore blood, on any side. If you help us, we can maybe convince all the other mages to join us and stop whatever Byakuya is planning. Once we stop him, peace can return at long last."

Looking into the half silver fox's pleading golden orbs, the white haired dog mage let out a ragged sigh. Turning away and taking a few steps forward, the mage quietly said "This must end. I only hope Tsunade sees the same thing I do."

Glancing over his shoulder towards the female half demon, Jiraiya lightly smiled and added "Let's go talk with her before she happens to beat the hell out of your mate. We'll both release you then."

Receiving a nod in reply, the mage led the way towards the other fight silently.


	51. Chapter 50: Dog Fight, Pt 3

**Hey gang! This past weekend was one that wore me out. Saturday, I went to my grandmother's (dad's side) birthday party. Most of the family was in for that, which was good and all. My younger cousin wanted to play football (2 hand touch), so we did in the field behind the house. It ended up that we had two teams of 4, with myself, my dad, my oldest uncle, and another uncle being on the same team, while the other team consisted of my youngest uncle, his son (the one who wanted to play), my step brother, and aunt. So, we began, with us getting behind early. After a while, my older uncle ran into my other (the one on my team) and cut himself with his glasses, so he got taken out of the game and replaced with my step brother's girlfriend. We tried to comeback, but in the end, were too tired to and quit for a while. A while later, we began again, with 2 teams of 3. The original teams stuck together, with exception of my step brother and his girlfriend not playing. Dad and I were running like crazy to keep up with my younger uncle and cousin. I could keep up with my cousin, but barely, lol. In the end, the game came to an end with another injury, lol, which was me. We were receiving the ball and I had it, but my cousin was coming at me full head of steam. He bounced off of me and fell down, but of course, I began falling. I managed to keep from landing on him and rolled to the ground, but got a bad cramp in my left cramp upon hitting the ground. Eventually, I finally got it worked out and got up, but it was tender still. That sucks, especially when you drive a stick shift, hehe. Anyways, other than that, life is good. My other grandparents are doing good, with Pap getting up in a chair for an hour and a half while I was there Sunday. Other than staying extremely busy at work, not much else is new I suppose.**

**I apologize first of all for this being a bit late. I had not finished this chapter earlier in the week, nor at the end of this past week. I had only like a little bit left and began working on it Friday, but my computer decided to hate my flash drive and deleted the file. I had a backup on my computer, but still, I was rather angry. Needless to say, I got done and this is the chapter. As for next week, well, I'll try to be on time. With this full work load at work, I may not be able to finish the chapter at home. I just don't know. We'll play it out, and I'll warn everyone if I don't get done. Sorry about that.**

**At any rate, time for reviews!**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Heh, yep, there was a betrayal on the mages' side. True, the others may not listen, but you never know. It's too late for some of them, hehe. Lol, yes, happy day for hickeys! Thanks for the review!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Glad you liked the chapter. Yep, treachery has taken form in the ranks of the mages. How far it goes, we'll have to see. Actually, the mages originally weren't like the 13 Court Guard Squads when I began writing this, due that the idea came from another group of 13 individuals, although I didn't use any of them. Heh, Byakuya might kill you for comments like that. (/Notes pink flower petals in the air.\) Like right now… True, Tsunade may beat the hell out of Jiraiya for what has happened. We'll see about adding Uryu Ishida into this. It may not get added, but we'll see. Heh, a nice shiny arrow in Mairyu's eye. If I ever get time, I may read that fan fic. True, you have long reviews, but I like everyone's reviews. All of them are helpful in improving my writing style. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: Yes, Sango is a good negotiator. Lol, an image of Sango playing the part of Roger Smith in the anime Big O just popped into my mind. "My name is Sango, and I perform a much needed service here in the city of amnesia…" (/Shakes head and gets back to review.\) Sorry about that, just got to day dreaming, hehe. But yes, it appears Byakuya could have a hidden agenda. Tsunade may listen, you never know. Heh, true, the mages may still die at Sesshomaru's hands, since he has reasons and plans of his own. Very true, Sesshomaru doesn't like being played with, so he may destroy everyone, lol. I'm sure Inuyasha and Kagome are just… (/Hears Kagome screaming "SIT!" over and over.\) fine… Yeah, they're just fine, I'm sure of it. (/Sweat drops.\) Glad you're really liking this story. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thank you, all 4 of you for your reviews. They were very helpful and meaningful to me, so again, thank you. Also, thanks to iloveyoumuchiies for adding my story to your favs, and thank you sirenssorrow for adding me to your alerts. I do appreciate it, so thank you both.**

**That's it for me. Again, I'll try to have the next chapter up on time next week. For now, I'm out. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 50**

Panting heavily while watching the female dog demon, Miroku desperately tried to catch his breath. The two had been fighting for the last hour, with neither gaining the upper hand in the fight, but the half demon was tiring while the blonde haired dog mage seemed only slightly winded.

"_Damn, she's so strong. Each time I try and charge her, she easily forces me to retreat with fear of getting hit by those powerful fists. One hit from either of them and I'll definitely be down for a while. She's already grazed my shoulder and that hurt like hell. I'm sure a big bruise is already forming._"

Snapping out of his thoughts, the half red fox saw the female dog demon racing towards him with her right fist pulled back and glowing with a blue demonic aura. Readying himself for the attack, the half red fox carefully watched the female mage's attack pattern and quickly leapt to her right side when she slammed a fist towards him. Not ready to give in, the mage slammed her right fist towards the ground and opened it into a palm and quickly put all her weight onto it, allowing her to spin her body on her hand alone and send a powerful blue glowing left foot towards the recovering half red fox.

Seeing the oncoming attack, the half red fox tried to roll out of harm's way and barely managed to dodge the might kick. Both spread out, allowing each to recover while each were still panting, with the half demon panting more heavily.

"You can't win, monk." Tsunade tersely growled out. "I have far more stamina than yourself, so I wouldn't even fool yourself into thinking you can win this fight. Your illusions won't beat me, and your hand to hand combat is a far cry from my own. Just make it easy on yourself and I might be gentler with you."

Defiantly, Miroku replied "I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, but I cannot do that. I have someone counting on me to win this fight. She is someone that I could never disappoint, no matter the odds against me. I will never give up so long as I draw breath in my body!"

Raising her arms and holding them out to her sides while shrugging, the blonde haired dog demon smartly said "Very well, don't say I didn't warn you. Just don't cry to me later once we're done and alone about the pain from the pounding I gave you."

"I wouldn't worry about me, for I have no intentions on letting you hear me complain about something like that, for I will be back with Sango by then." Miroku remarked while crouching down into a readied stance.

Smirking at the former monk's defiance, Tsunade smugly replied "Very well then, I'll just have to beat you into submission."

Charging at the defiant half red fox, the female mage pulled back a blue glowing fist and readied it to unload onto the half demon. Just as she was about to reach the half demon, she felt a familiar presence land before her and take hold of her right wrist, stopping her effectively from hitting the half red fox.

Casting a fierce glare at the new white haired arrival, Tsunade angrily yelled "LET GO JIRAIYA! HE IS MY SLAVE, AND I WILL REGAIN CONTROL OF HIM!"

"Easy Tsunade." Jiraiya softly commented. "This fight is over."

"IT'S NOT! HE IS MINE JIRAIYA, SO IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, YOU'LL RELEASE MY WRIST OR YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET IT!" the female mage snarled.

"Tsunade, your half red fox and my half silver fox are mates."

Anger fleeing her golden eyes, Tsunade quickly asked "Are you sure!?"

"I am. I saw the mark on Sango's neck myself." Jiraiya calmly remarked while still holding tightly onto Tsunade's wrist. Noting the blue demonic aura that was flaring around her fist was dissipating, he added "You know in your heart that we have no right to split them apart."

Looking downwards at the ground, the female dog demon bit her lower lip while her bangs shadowed over her eyes. In a low whisper, she said "I know…"

Completely relaxing her fisted hand into an open palm, the blonde haired mage looked up at Jiraiya and muttered "It only figures the two we picked would mate."

Softly chuckling, Jiraiya released his hold on her hand, allowing the female mage to back up a few steps. Confused at this, the half red fox glanced between the two mages before he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Glancing over it, he saw his mate standing behind him with a small smile.

"Sango, are you hurt?" Miroku asked with concern visible in his voice and eyes while he turned towards her and looked her body over for injuries.

Shaking her head, Sango replied "Not really. I've probably got a major bruise on my stomach, and maybe one forming on my face, but I'll live. How about you, are you injured?"

"No, I wasn't really hurt either. I'm sure I have a horrific bruise on my right arm, but that's about it." the half red fox responded. Glancing towards the two mages, he motioned towards the pair with his head, whispering "What is going on?"

"Jiraiya found out that we mated." Sango whispered back. "He said that it's against his personal rules of life to take a slave who is mated. I guess the same can be said for Tsunade too. He plans to release me, and I think he's going to have Tsunade release you also. There is more, but I'll explain soon."

Eyeing his mate with a touch of confusion, the former monk nodded his head and returned his attention to the two dog mages, who seemed to be waiting on the pair to finish talking.

Seeing they had their attention, Jiraiya spoke up, saying "Now that the two of you know what's going on, it is time we release both of you."

With a light grumble, Tsunade moved beside of the white haired dog demon. Both raised their hands in unison and began a series of hand signs. Together, the two came to a stop and each called out "Sealing Spell! Release!"

A light whimper instantly escaped Sango's mouth as she fell to one knee. Interrupted by a small flare of pain himself before he could ask his mate what wrong, Miroku fell to one knee himself. Both reached towards their necks, each seemingly trying to feel what was happening to their skin.

The pain soon subsided, with each standing. Turning his mate around, Miroku lifted Sango's silver and brown mixed hair out of the way of her neck and glanced at the skin where the male dog mage's mark had been. Finding nothing there any longer, he lightly gasped and mumbled "It's gone…"

Forcing the former monk to release her, the half silver fox turned the half red fox around and lifted his own hair while looking over the back of his neck. Finding no mark either, the half silver fox released the half red fox's hair and spun him around. Coming to a stop before the female half demon, the male half demon found a smiling face.

"We're free Miroku! The mark on your neck, it's gone like mine!" Sango declared joyfully.

Breaking out into a big smile, Miroku reached forward and pulled Sango into a tight embrace and kissed her passionately. At long last, he released her and smiled. "We're free Sango, at long last, we're free."

Both turned back towards the two mages after a moment of longingly looking at one another. For a moment, the half red fox debated on his words before he shakily said "Thank you, for releasing us."

"It's not to be expected that you're not very grateful to either us, so don't pretend that you really are." Jiraiya dryly remarked. "What we did was almost destroy the love between the two of you, so it is us who are sorry for that."

Glancing at his female partner, the white haired dog mage nudged her. Folding her arms over her chest and casting a glare at the male dog mage, she grunted out with a touch of irritation "Yeah, we're **REALLY** sorry."

Rolling his eyes at his partner's sarcastic attitude, Jiraiya walked over towards where the oval of flesh stood. "Please do my one favor before I release your friend."

"And that is?" Miroku questioned.

Casting a glance at the half red fox, the dog mage said "Tell him that we no longer wish to fight once I release him. I don't wish to fight him for no reason, but should he choose to continue fighting after you tell him, I will not stand by and allow him to try to harm me."

"Alright, I'll tell him once he's free." the male half demon remarked.

Nodding in reply, the male dog mage began a series of hand signs. Finishing, he called out "Summoning Spell! Release!"

The walls of flesh instantly began rippling upon the command being called out. A moment later, the walls vanished, revealing Ryo sitting on the ground with his eyes closed. With the walls gone, the black haired dog demon's eyes snapped open and he was instantly to his feet.

Charging towards the white haired mage, the black haired mage began a series of hand signs while his demonic power began growing. Before he could complete his signs, the half red fox demon moved in his way with his arms held out defensively.

Coming to a stop with his hand signs, the black haired dog mage angrily spat out "Out of my way Miroku, I have a score to settle with that mutt!"

"It's over Jiraiya." Miroku quietly said. "They freed both Sango and myself from their binding spells. We're no longer going to become their slaves."

Eyes widening a fraction, Ryo glanced at the two mages and gruffly asked "Is this true, Jiraiya and Tsunade?"

In a level voice, Jiraiya replied "It is true, Ryo of the Wildfire. Both Tsunade and I released these two half demons from our binding spells. We do not know how to reverse their forms back to humans, but they are at the least no longer under our binding spell, meaning in a few days, nothing will happen."

Taking in the white haired dog demon's words, the black haired dog demon lowered his hands slightly and blandly asked "Why did you do that?"

"During my battle with Sango, I discovered that she and the former monk are mates. It has been a rule of mine to never take a person's mate as my own slave. Tearing a love apart like that is not my style, nor is it Tsunade's. We both know to do that is wrong from a past experience, so we decided to do the right thing and release these two mates."

Casting a small glance to the female mage and then back to the male mage, Ryo let out a small sigh and said "I believe you since you freed my friends."

"Good, because we still have some business to discuss." Jiraiya frankly stated.

Turning towards his partner fully, he took hold of the female dog demon's hand, earning him a small growl from her. Ignoring it, he said "Tsunade, I wish to ask you something that Sango made me think about. You know what The Thirteen's reasons are for doing what we do, but let me ask you this: why haven't we been acting upon it?"

Taking a moment to ponder on the question, the female dog demon finally replied with a shrug while pulling her hand free, saying "The timing isn't right, according to Byakuya at the least."

"I realize that he has said that, but let me make mention of something that I was informed of." Jiraiya remarked. "We have been biding our time for all these years, but there have been plenty of chances to take any of the four lands. Two lords have died over the years, with it being the Lords of the West and South. Still, we did not attack either land while they were mourning or grieving."

"I know that much, Jiraiya. After all, we kept abreast of the comings and goings of the four lands." Tsunade grumbled with irritation.

Nodding in agreement, the male dog demon replied "True you are Tsunade, but think about those facts. The Western and Southern Lands were ripe for the taking twice, but we did not take either one. The same could be said for the Eastern Lands. Lest you forget, it was The Thirteen that stirred up trouble between the East and West so they'd go back to war, but they didn't. Still, we didn't do anything to follow up. This whole time, Byakuya kept saying to be patient and wait for the right opportunity, but looking back, I have seen that we have had the opportunities, yet he did not wish to strike. I think he has been holding back on completing our task."

Remaining quiet for a few moments, Tsunade slowly asked "What does that mean then?"

"That he had no intentions on fulfilling what he wished to begin." Jiraiya flatly stated. "It took me this long to figure it out, but he's only been using us as tools to complete what he wanted. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he has a separate agenda. Why else would he not send all of us to fight Iya Taisho?"

"And then there is the matter that as of right now, the way things are set up between the four lands, there is no way for any of the four lords to fight amongst one another. They will never come to blows due that all of them are not willing to fight each other."

Looking to his partner pleadingly, Jiraiya quietly asked "Don't you see Tsunade? We've been lied to about all that we've done. Byakuya never planned to bring peace, but to force us to do his work for him possibly, and once we have finished, we'll be of no use to him."

Digesting the white haired dog demon's words, the blonde haired dog demon turned away from the group, revealing her back to them. For a minute, silence filled the air till the female mage finally asked "What do you intend to do about this possible betrayal, Jiraiya?"

"I intend on making this right. If all that we've done has been nothing more than on a whim for Byakuya, then I must make things right." the male mage firmly remarked. In a softer tone, he added "Tsunade, I want you to join me in doing this. Please, don't make me have to fight you, as well as the others."

Hearing a soft chuckle, the white haired dog demon stared at the back of the blonde hair dog demon with a puzzled look. Watching her turn, he saw that she had a small smile with her eyes glistening with the threat of tears spilling.

Weakly, she asked "Jiraiya, are you sure you wish to do this?"

"I'm sure Tsunade. In my heart, I know it's the right thing to do to atone for what all I've done thus far." Jiraiya declared.

Slightly smiling once more, Tsunade replied "Then I will join you, and together, we'll stop the remainder of our friends. Perhaps we can convince them to walk the same path as us."

"We can only hope." the male demon commented.

Hearing someone clear their throat, the two mages turned to find the two half demons lightly smiling at the pair while the other dog demon had his arms folded over his chest and looking off in the distance. "We wish to help you stop the others, so that our friends can be free as well." Miroku remarked.

Pursing her lips for a moment, the female mage considered the half red fox's statement and finally replied "Do as you please."

Glaring at the female mage, Sango folded her arms over her chest and let out a low grunt of irritation. Remembering the other two members of their group, she began walking back into the tree line, calling out "Shippou, Kirara, it's safe to come out."

After a minute, the fox kit and the neko came out of their hiding place and up to the female silver fox. She quickly explained the situation to the pair, who seemed to pick up on what was happening easily. Upon returning to the group, the two mages were notably ready to leave.

"Let's go stop our old friends, Ichimaru and Orochimaru, before they do something foolish." Jiraiya grimly remarked.

The two half demons and three demons each nodded in reply to the mages. Taking off in the direction that they group of five had come from, the seven began traveling along, with Jiraiya and Tsunade leading the way while the others followed behind with a small bit of distance between themselves and the mages.

--

Walking in a slow stride out into a small clearing with the half fire demon and half wolf demon flanking both his sides from behind, was the silent Lord of the Western Lands. Inhaling the scents of the clearing, his eyes narrowed a fraction when he found that the area permeated with the scent of the two snake demons.

Smelling the scents of the two snake demons coming from the clearing ahead, Rin and Kohaku each tensed a bit. Noting the two half demons has, the dog demon continued onwards at his slow pace into the clearing with the two following behind him.

Arriving at the middle of the clearing, Sesshomaru spotted the black robed snake mages standing at the edge of the clearing. Without a word, he moved the group onwards towards the two mages and finally came to a stop with only a distance of ten feet between his group and the two mages.

Smiling with a wide grin, Ichimaru smartly said "Ah, Lord Sesshomaru, it seems you have at long last found us."

"Indeed." Sesshomaru emotionlessly replied. "The two of you will die for your crimes against the Western Lands."

"My, my, what strong accusations you throw against us." Ichimaru remarked in a chipper tone. "May I ask if that is why you bothered to follow us this far, or is it something more to do with my future slave?"

Noting the snake demon's eyes had fallen upon her, Rin bristled lightly, but remained quiet, knowing that the dog demon lord would answer for her.

"Rin, Kohaku."

Hearing their names spoken by the stoic demon lord, the pair answered quickly at the same time with "Yes Lord Sesshomaru?"

"The two of you shall deal with Orochimaru."

Both glanced at the white skinned demon mage with black hair and together replied "Yes Lord Sesshomaru."

"This Sesshomaru shall deal with Ichimaru."

Smirking, Ichimaru smugly asked "Oh, so you shall deal with me yourself? I'm flattered that my opponent shall be the great Lord of the Western Lands."

Casting a glance over at his brother, he lowly said "Brother, recapture our slaves, and make sure that you do not harm mine, very much at the least."

"Do you take me a fool?" Orochimaru lightly grunted in return. "I'll do whatever it takes to recapture the pair."

"Right, just make sure not to kill my slave. Should you do so, you will have to deal with a very cross me when I return." Ichimaru warned in an icy tone.

Returning his attention to the dog demon before him, Ichimaru smiled and challengingly asked "Well, Lord Sesshomaru, shall we begin?"

Without warning, the white haired mage vanished in a flash. Immediately, the silver haired dog demon vanished as well, leaving behind the half fire and half wolf demons.

In a low chuckling while leaning forward, Orochimaru brought his hands up into a ready position. "Well, well, I hope you two are ready for this. I highly doubt this fight will last very long, so why not do the smart thing and surrender now."

Bristling, Kohaku angrily spat back "I'm never going to give up! I will not give in and become your slave! You'll just have to kill me, because I'll never give into you!"

"I will not be that snake's slave either." Rin admonished. Reaching up to her back and taking hold of the hilt of Aiko, she slid it a few inches out of it's sheath, saying "Kohaku and I will slay you, and once we do, Kohaku will be free. And your brother doesn't stand a chance against Lord Sesshomaru!"

Breaking into a small cackle, the black haired snake demon sharply replied "We will see when my brother returns, won't we. In the meantime, you two stand no chance in a battle with me. I'll just have to make sure to keep both of you alive."

"Rin."

Glancing over at Kohaku, who had whispered her name, she heard him say "Stay back and let me handle this fight."

"No Kohaku, you don't stand a chance alone." Rin protested while keeping an eye on the snake mage.

Shaking his head, he whispered back "I don't want you to get hurt by this mage. I can handle him, so stay out of this fight."

"Kohaku, you don't stand a chance alone. Only together can we stop this mage. I'll be fine, and so will you."

Considering the half wolf's words, the half fire demon glanced into her eyes, seeing she truly meant what she had said. Letting out a small sight, he reached behind his body and pulled out his chain scythe and moved it before himself in a readied position.

"Very well, we'll do this together." he replied with a small smile.

Nodding in reply, the female half demon returned her attention towards the smirking white skinned snake. Pulling himself back up in full length, he backed away a few steps, saying "You two think you stand a chance against me? How amusing!"

Pulling on the cords that held his robes shut, he released them, revealing his clothing underneath. He wore a set of gray pants that were rolled up somewhat on his calves, which were covered in white bandages down to his footwear, which were a pair of sandals that covered his feet, except for his toes. On the top of his body, he wore a cream colored tunic with black coming out from under it's sleeves that ended at his elbows, and had a black collar that went from his neck to part way down his chest. Around his waist, he wore a thick purple rope that was tied into a bow on his back.

Smirking once more, he snidely said "Come children, let's play."

--

Racing after the snake mage, the stoic Western Lord expanded his senses, trying to find any presence of traps or other demons in the area. Finding nothing in the vicinity, the dog demon sped up.

Glancing over his shoulder, the white haired mage saw that the dog demon was starting to pick up the pace and begin overtaking him. Smirking at this, the mage returned his vision to before himself and put on more speed, allowing him to once more increase the distance between the two demons.

Taking a moment to glance once more behind himself, the snake mage frowned upon finding that the dog demon lord was no longer behind him. Just as he began to reach out with his senses, he saw the dog lord landing before him, causing the snake mage to come to a skidding halt.

"Well, well, aren't you a fast one." Ichimaru smartly commented.

Unfazed by the snake demon's words, Sesshomaru flatly said "This is the end for you, mage."

Grinning, the snake mage smartly replied "Is that so? I've heard that one before, from many demons."

"This Sesshomaru will be the last you hear it from."

"Really? Well then, you'll have to do better than you have previously. After all, lest you forget, I managed to best you before." Ichimaru remarked with a grin.

Irked by the words of the snake demon, the dog demon lord kept his emotionless mask on and icily said "That is a mistake that this Sesshomaru shall rectify. You mages have been allowed to live for far too long. Do not mistake this Sesshomaru for that incompetent half breed brother of mine."

"My, my, such angry comments about your family." the snake mage smartly retorted with a wide grin. "I would think you would be thankful that we didn't kill him after all these years."

"This Sesshomaru's brother is of no concern." the dog demon coolly replied with ice in his amber eyes. "You and your brethren must pay for the crimes you have committed against the Western Lands, and you shall all pay with your lives."

Upon finishing his words, the silver haired dog demon streaked forward with his green energy whip forming out of his right hand. The whip quickly lashed out at the snake mage, who did nothing but remain grinning and dodged the attack by vanishing completely. Quickly, the dog demon shot out his second whip from his other hand to his left, where the snake mage was reappearing. The mage managed to barely dodge the attack, with his robes being grazed.

Not getting a moment to recover at all, the snake demon quickly found the dog demon recoiling his whip and directing it in his direction. With only a moment to spare, the mage took to the air, escaping the energy whip by just a few inches.

Smirking down at the dog demon, the mage frowned slightly when the dog demon vanished and reappeared directly below his body with his right clawed hand glowing with bright green energy.

Slashing out at the mage, Sesshomaru icily said "Poison Claw!"

With all his might, the mage managed to turn his body away from the clawed attack, but his robes were not as lucky as a gash was cut into them. Falling back to the ground, the pair separated, with the dog demon flexing his claw slightly while the bright green energy glow faded.

Glancing at his robes and noting a small amount of smoke starting to pour off of them, the mage let out a bit of a chuckle. "Ah, you thought your poison would kill me. Sorry to be the bad bearer of news, but your poison won't affect me. After all, I am a snake demon, thus my body has immunities to numerous poisons."

Motioning towards his robes, he added "But of course, my clothing is not so lucky."

Reaching up and pulling on the cords that kept his robes closed, he shed the robes, revealing a long white vest that reached his lower calves in length, with black stripes with circles in between each stripe on the hem of his vest, a pair of black pants, a black kimono top with a white under kimono peeking out from under it, and a white obi sash. On his left hip was a sword with a light violet clothed hilt and a white sheath.

Stepping away from the smoldering robes, the mage glanced back at the robes once more, watching them melt away into nothingness. In a sour tone, he said "I'm a bit cross with you now, for those were my favorite set of robes."

Replacing the sour tone with his normal sing song voice, the mage added "I must say, you are a complex demon. I have no clue to why you are even bothering to face The Thirteen."

"You mages attacked the Western Lands 250 years ago." Sesshomaru tightly remarked.

"I know that, but those were nothing but humans. Why should you, the Lord of the Western Lands, who clearly hates humans and half demons, care?" Ichimaru countered.

Irked by the snake demon's words, the dog demon icily responded with "You have disrespected the laws of the Western Lands. Whether they are human, half demon, demon, or anything else, they reside under this Sesshomaru's rule. By attacking my lands, your entire group has received the punishment fit for the attack, which is death at this Sesshomaru's hands."

Smirking at this, the snake demon placed his right hand onto the hilt of his sword and smartly replied "I see, well, we shall see who is punished, now won't we?"

Moving his hand to the top sword in his obi sash, the dog demon lord drew his sword out a few inches before coldly icily saying "You will perish in this fight."

Once more smirking, the snake demon drew his sword completely out and charged forward at the dog demon. Watching the demon vanish, the demon lord drew his sword fully out and moved it to his left, effectively parrying the incoming attack from the reappearing snake mage who only smirked widely while sparks poured off of the two blades.

In a flash, the dog and snake demons vanished into thin air, but reappeared thirty feet away with their swords slamming against one another while sparks filled the air. Again and again, the pair vanished, with each time the pair reappearing with their swords pressed against one another.

At long last, the pair came to rest with ten feet between themselves. Both eyed one another for an opening, with neither finding one. Grinning widely, the mage smartly remarked "Well, well, you're quite serious about winning this battle. Interesting, one has to wonder if your reason for wishing to win this fight is due that I cast that spell on your little human ward."

"Watch your mouth." Sesshomaru menacingly snarled.

Cracking a wider smile, Ichimaru added "I mean, why bother to go to so much trouble. I never have understood your reasoning for taking in that girl in the first place. She was nothing but a mere mortal, not even capable of defending herself, yet you allowed her to travel with you on your journey to destroy Naraku. And even now, you allow her to travel with you while she is a half demon. How very curious."

"I only wonder, were you planning to keep her and raise her up to use for your own slave once she got old enough, or did you plan to mate with her and use her in such a manner to get an heir for the…"

Before the mage could finish his words, the dog demon lord closed the gap between himself and the mage to within five feet. Bringing the sword before his body, he held it horizontally, emotionlessly saying "Dragon Strike."

Glowing with a bright light blue aura, the sword began shooting streaks of lightning straight forward while more energy burst up out of the ground. The wave moved fast towards the snake mage, who only smirked at the oncoming attack.

Pushing his sword out before his body with both hands, the mage plunged it into the oncoming onslaught, sending lightning blazing in several directions. Grunting out from the sheer force of the attack, the mage stood his ground while the lightning continued to strike at him.

Finally, the blast began to subside, revealing a smoking sword that was before the snake demon who was grinning widely. Lowering his sword at long last, the mage smugly asked "Well, well Lord Sesshomaru, is that the best you can do?"

"Hardly." the demon lord gritted out.


	52. Chapter 51: Slippery Snakes, Pt 1

**Hello everyone! Well, first off, let me apologize for the lateness of this chapter. The reason why I didn't post last week was due that I fell terribly behind in my writing due that I've been extremely busy in real life. A few weeks ago, I helped my dad in the hayfields and finally got done there, only to have work pick up and really get me busy. I spent some evenings at work, trying desperately to finish up some of it so I could write. Then when I got home, I had a million reasons or things to do. I would either spend time with my mate (alone time also, hehe), not be in the mood to write, want to play a game, or have other stuff to do, so I got hardly nothing done there. That's not really an excuse though, but that's how it turned out. Again, I apologize for falling so far behind on schedule. I'm unsure if I can keep up the pace of one chapter a week due that I'm still working hard on my project at work, but it ends in the next week or two, in which afterwards, I intend to possibly take some time off to try and work off all the stress that has built up over the last month or two, and possibly get some writing done also. Again, I apologize for not getting this chapter out to everyone sooner. I just finished it this morning honestly, so I'm sorry. Time is just fleeting anymore, sadly. Honestly, I'm unsure how the schedule will go for me posting. It maybe every two weeks, but I'm not sure. I may get more done than I think. This story, along with my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**, have both been suffering due to my inability to multitask. Until further notice, I think I will post every two weeks, if not before the mark if I happen to finish a chapter. I'm truly sorry that it has come down to this, but it has due to life, so I'm once more sorry. Like I always say, real life comes first, and truthfully, lately, it has had to happen that way with me. If this angers some people, I'm sorry, but it's just the way things will be for a while. I may get back ahead like I once was, but we'll see.**

**Anyways, enough of that. It's time to move on and do the reviews.**

**reanbff: Lol, it's cool to not know what to say. Heh, when is this going to end? Date wise, I'm unsure. I had hoped to be done by now to be truthful, but this story seems to keep growing in size and length. I would say, if all goes well, and I do mean well, maybe, just maybe, by Christmas this story will end. That all depends though on if I get to writing a lot again. Realistically, I began this story thinking it would be only 50 chapters. As I'm sure you already saw, this is chapter 51, lol. I'm now thinking this story may go another 25 chapters, at the most, I hope. It should be at least 10 more, but possibly at most 25 chapters. I would like to end it at 75 or less chapters, but again, we'll see. I'm glad you don't want it to end at the least, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: Yes, I agree, Ichimaru shouldn't toy with Sesshomaru like that. He will tear that snake a new one if he continues to play with him like that. Yeah, Rin is fully devoted to helping Kohaku out of his mess, plus Kohaku wants to protect Rin. Heh, young love you say, most likely, lol. Yep, the other two mages have figured things out at the least. Lol, you mean that Tsunade and Ryo will hook up? Never know. She may be happy just staying independent. True, Jiraiya probably wouldn't like it if Ryo and Tsunade hooked up, hehe. Hmm, true, Sesshomaru could use a strong woman himself, lol. LOL! I got the image of Sesshomaru having to do the dishes when I read your comment. The look on his face would be priceless. True, hopefully the other mages will arrive before Sesshomaru, Kohaku, and Rin kill the other two mages. Mmm, roasted snake demons… Thanks for the review!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Thanks about the 50 chapters thing. I didn't even notice till I got your review, plus I had to create a new file for my writing. I usually split this story into 25 chapter files, then create single ones for each chapter. I had not noticed it till then, so thanks for reminding me. Heh, don't kill Ichimaru, eh, but kill Orochimaru. Man, that's a tall order, especially since Sesshomaru is fighting Ichimaru. Lol, I don't think you can kill him at the moment. Hmm, three things Byakuya is up to, eh? (/Reads list\) Well, the Philosophers Stone, well, doubtful. Doubtful he wants Soiyaku or Sounga. As for being manipulated, nah, he's his own demon, much like how in Bleach he does as he pleases, so long as the law doesn't get in his way, hehe. Lol, better be careful there, looks like Byakuya might have your number and is after you. Thanks for the review, and I'll get back to you soon on the PM you sent.**

**Mitsukai – Lady of Gryffindor: Yep, very interesting, hehe. True, silly Ichimaru shouldn't be pushing his luck with Sesshomaru. Lol, true, he might as well kiss his butt goodbye, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: My guess on the number of chapters, lol, well, it's complicated. The high number would be 25 more chapters, but the low number would be 10-15. I think it'll be more like 20, but I'm just not sure. At this point, I'm just unsure. I apparently suck at guessing story lengths, since this has happened to me a few times already, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all five of you, for your reviews. I'm happy that all of you appreciated the last chapter and took the time to express your thoughts on it. It's always helpful to read these reviews, so thank you again. Also, thank you to the person who added my story to their favorites. Sadly, I still suck at finding out who it was, lol. I glance at the profile always, then close it and delete the email to keep from cluttering up my account. I apologize for not looking closer. But thank you nonetheless for add to your favs. This story has almost beat one of my earlier stories in the amount of favs, which is a big boost to me in thinking I'm doing something right with this story, hehe. Again, thank you, all of you, for your continuous support. I do truly appreciate it, and hope I didn't anger some of you by not posting last week. Again, I will do what I can with posting, but until further notice, this story will update every two weeks, possibly, unless I get some writing done.**

**For now though, I'm done. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 51**

Letting out an evil cackle while hunching over, Orochimaru smugly asked "Are you children going to come for me, or must I come for you?"

Lightly growling at the snake mage's words, the half fire demon readied himself for an attack, but took one quick glance at the half wolf demon to his left. Seeing she was ready to spring into action herself with her sword drawn a few inches out of it's sheath on her back, the half fire demon smiled to himself and returned his full attention to the snake mage.

"Fine then, I'll come for you!" the mage shouted while charging Rin and Kohaku.

Drawing her sword out fully, Rin slipped back into a ready stance with Aiko pointed towards the charging mage. Vanishing in a flash, she raced towards the mage and reappeared with only a few feet between the two of them. Gracefully, she slashed out at the mage, who threw his body out of the way of her attack at the last moment, with Aiko only whistling through the wind instead of hitting anything.

Making it around Rin, Orochimaru sped past her on towards Kohaku. Seeing the mage coming, Kohaku quickly began spinning his scythe by the chain and launched it at the mage. Jerking it towards the head of the mage, Kohaku watched in shock when the mage managed to twist his body around and dodged the blade completely.

Unable to recall his chain scythe fast enough, the half fire demon was left wide open to the mage, who smiled evilly and punched the half fire demon square in the right jaw with all his might, sending him flying backwards while his chain scythe fell to the ground out of his grip.

"Kohaku!" Rin shouted with worry while racing back towards her friend. "_I can't let him take Kohaku, no matter what! Lord Sesshomaru told us to work together and stop this mage, but more than that, I just can't let him be taken away!_"

Hearing the approaching half wolf demon, the snake mage quickly spun around and growled out "You will not interfere!"

Upon him saying his words, he began a series of hand signs. Finishing, he cried out "Earth Style, Smashing Ground Quake!" while slamming his fist into the ground.

Immediately, the ground beneath Rin began crumbling away, surprising her and catching her completely off guard. She attempted to leap away from the ground, but the smoke and dust soon began blocking her senses, forcing her to try and retreat the way she had come.

Slowly turning back towards the half fire demon, Orochimaru began a new series of hand signs, but stopped instantly when he realized that his target was no longer laying on the ground where he had left him. He didn't have to wait long to find the half fire demon, for he felt a rush of heat starting to appear to his left side. A fire ball soon came flying in, smacking the mage hard in the left arm, causing the scent of burning flesh to fill the air while he let out a small grunt of pain.

Glaring at the mage while keeping his palm towards the mage with flames licking it, Kohaku harshly said "You will not take me that easily! As I said before, you'll have to kill me before I submit to you!"

Lightly chuckling at the half demon's words, Orochimaru held his scorched left arm out away from his body and placed a hand onto it. Digging his fingers into his arm, he ripped the arm off, catching both of the half demons off guard and making them gasp in shock at the behavior of the mage. Grunting out while holding the remainder of his arm away from his body, the mage grit his teeth and let out a small cry of pain when a new arm covered in dripping light green liquid sprouted out.

Seeing the new arm, both Rin and Kohaku took a nervous step backwards. "What the…" Kohaku mumbled under his breath.

"He grew his arm back in a matter of seconds…" Rin whispered to herself.

Darkly chuckling, the mage cast a glance at both half demons and smirked evilly. "Do I scare you, children?" he asked in a dark voice.

Gathering up his courage, Kohaku scanned the area for his chain scythe. Finding it near the feet of the snake mage, he let out a low grunt. "_Great, it's so close to him. I need it to win, and to keep my demon blood in check. If I lose control…_"

"_No, I can't lose control!_" he growled back. "_Too much is riding on this fight for me to let my demonic side to get the better of me. I've done well so far in not losing my scythe, but now that I have, I'll have to just get it back. I can do this, I know it. I have to remember, if I beat this guy, I'll be free again. No matter what, I can't lose control of myself._"

Taking a calming breath, the half fire demon eyed the mage, who smiled heinously at him. With an evil smile, the mage slid his purple tongue out of his mouth and licked his lips with his elongated tongue.

Without warning, the tongue shot forward at Kohaku. Before he could react, the half fire demon found himself wrapped up in the snake demon's rubbery tongue. Struggling to free himself, he quickly found that the tongue was constricting tighter and tighter and slowly cutting off his precious oxygen supply.

Watching her friend being squeezed to death, Rin snapped out of her daze and charged forward towards the mage with Aiko whistling through the wind. Reaching the mage, she slashed out at the elongated tongue of the mage, only to miss when the mage leapt away into the air and dragged the half fire demon along with him. Not about to give up, the half wolf demon used her heightened speed to leap high into the air and get ahead of the mage, surprising him a bit. Swinging out with her sword, the half wolf was shocked when a snake came out of the mage's throat and pushed a sword out of it's own throat that clashed with her own sword, sending a small shower of sparks into the air.

Letting his body quickly drop back towards the ground with his captive still wrapped tightly in his tongue, the mage fell back to the ground and reached up to his mouth and took hold of the hilt of his sword and pulled it the remainder of the way out of the snake's mouth. The snake instantly retreated back into the mage's throat while the mage readied himself with the sword in hand.

Taking a glance at Kohaku, Rin bit her lower lip when she noticed that that half fire demon's face was beginning to turn a shade of blue. "_He won't last too much longer! I have to find a way to separate the two of them._"

Contemplating her options, the half wolf worriedly looked at the half fire demon once more. He was gasping already for air while his face was turning bluer and bluer. About to growl, she stopped when an idea struck her. Deciding to put it into action, she began charging towards the mage, only to vanish into thin air while dust trailed her form.

Smiling cruelly, the snake mage's eyes darted to and fro while watching the dust trail being kicked up around the area. Without warning the dust suddenly vanished, making the snake demon frown heavily. Before he could react, the half wolf demon reappeared before him and slammed the hilt of her sword into his stomach. The mage let out a loud gasp and felt his tongue loosen around his prized half fire demon. Seeing the mage had loosened his hold on the half fire demon, the female half demon spun her sword around and slashed out at the mage's head.

Realizing he was in danger of being beheaded, the mage began falling backwards to avoid the contact, but raised his tongue into the path of the half demon's blade. The blade sliced cleanly through the rubbery purple tongue, sending blood and saliva flying into the air along with a cry of pain from the mage.

Recoiling from the loss of his tongue, Orochimaru backed away about twenty feet, allowing Rin to run up to Kohaku. Using Aiko carefully, she sliced the thick rubbery tongue off of the half fire demon, who fell forward into her while gasping and coughing.

Looking up at the half wolf demon, the half fire demon weakly said "Thanks…"

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad you're still alive." the half wolf softly commented back.

Pulling away from the half wolf, but wobbling a bit, the half fire demon managed to regain his balance and spotted his chain scythe not too far away. Walking slowly to it, he picked it up and returned his vision to the pained cries of the snake demon.

Examining his injured tongue, Orochimaru let out a low feral growl and angrily said with some difficulty "YOU BITCH, HOW DARE YOU CUT MY TONGUE!"

Unaffected by the mage's words, Rin sharply replied "It's your own fault, mage. You shouldn't have attacked my friend. Give up while you can before we end up killing you."

Breaking out into maniacal laughter while rearing his head back, the mage released even louder laughter while grabbing his sides. Coming to a stop with his laughing fit, the mage jabbed his sword into the ground and smiled evilly while opening his jaws wide. His mouth suddenly unhinged and opened even wider, to almost the same size of his own body. Without warning, a hand covered in light green slime slid out of the mage's mouth and took hold of the outer part of the mouth to pull itself up. Slowly and seemingly painstakingly, the hand slowly pulled an arm out, only to reveal a second hand and arm. Not long after that, a head of black hair covered in the thick light green slime slid out of the mage's mouth. Throwing his hair back, the black haired creature revealed itself to be the mage with an evil smirk on it's face. With a heavy grunt, he pulled the remainder of his body out of what looked like the original mage. Upon pulling himself out fully, he leapt down to the ground, panting lightly while the original mage seemed to crumble away into dust. Shaking the slime off of himself, the mage evilly chuckled at the two shocked and bewildered half demons.

"What the hell did you do!?" Kohaku asked in complete shock and dismay.

Grinning evilly, Orochimaru smartly replied "I just demonstrated my most powerful spell to you for a second time. It's called Eternal Life. As you know, all demons are immortal, meaning their life spans, if untouched, are eternal. But demons can be killed in battle like anything else, so I developed a spell in which to get around this weakness. It allows me regenerate my body from any blow, so long as there is a piece of me still around somewhere."

"So that's how he regenerated his arm earlier…" Rin mumbled softly.

Once more chuckling, the mage smartly replied "That's right, and I'll continue using that spell till you two are worn down. Now do you understand why you cannot defeat me? You haven't the power to stand against me!"

Tightening his grip on the hilt of his chain scythe, Kohaku cast a fierce glare at the mage. "_He's right... If we continue to hack away at him, he'll just regenerate himself._"

Staring hard and long at the snake demon, Rin mumbled within her mind "_There just has to be a way to take that mage down. He can regenerate his body whenever he is struck, meaning even if I manage to get in a killing blow, he'll be able to recover from it._"

Eyeing the mage intently, she noted his light panting and a small bit of sweat trickling down his cheeks. "_That's odd, why is he out of breath and sweating? Wait, does that mean that his Eternal Life spell takes a lot out of him? It has to. That means he has a limitation to how many times he can fully regenerate I bet. That's got to be the key to beating him._"

"I bet you're thinking that my Eternal Life spell can be defeated." Orochimaru spoke up, breaking the half wolf demon out of her thoughts. "Well, you'd be incorrect in that assumption due that my spell is unique. You see, I cast this spell many years ago on myself, but it had a price. Over time, my body begins to breakdown."

Frowning heavily, the half fire demon asked in confusion "Breakdown?"

"Correct, my slave." the snake mage smartly replied. "The effects of the spell put a tremendous strain on a person's body. Eventually, a person's body will deteriorate to the point that it becomes useless and is so weak that it collapses in on itself."

Seeing bewildered looks on the two half demons' faces, the mage smirked and added "But my spell has a secondary effect. You see, Eternal Life means as it says. So long as a piece of my body remains, I can regenerate. So, to get around the side-effects of my spell, I created another spell, one known as Soul Transference."

"This allows me to take my own soul from my body and transfer it into a new, younger, and much stronger body. In essence, I gain youth by transferring out."

Unable to hold back a gasp, both half demons' stared at the mage in complete and utter shock at his words. Drinking in their expressions, the snake demon added "My bodies can only maintain themselves for three years at a time. After which, the body I'm in becomes far too weak and I must leave it before it dies."

"You monster!" Kohaku growled out angrily. "So you've been living off of the lives of people for all these years just so you won't die in battle!?"

"More or less…" Orochimaru responded with a small shrug and smirk. "And I should let you know, my little slave, you will be my next body, for you see, I must transfer in the next year or so before this body wilts away. But until then, I will enjoy taking you to bed every night and using you to relieve myself of my desires."

Grimacing at the thought of Kohaku being forced through such an ordeal, Rin readied Aiko before herself and said in a voice of steel "You won't be taking Kohaku anywhere. He has no desire to go with you."

"Besides, you're going to die right here in this fight with the two of us. Together, Kohaku and I will beat you and your stupid spell! I don't care if you say you can't be killed, we will prevail, no matter what!" Rin added heatedly.

Glancing at the half wolf demon in a bit of shock, Kohaku returned his vision to their opponent, but smiled within his mind. "_Thank you Rin. That means more than you'll ever know that you want to help me beat him._"

Chuckling lowly, the mage reached out and took hold of the hilt of his sword and pulled it free from the ground. "Well, if you feel that strongly, perhaps I should go against my brother's word and kill you. He has no taste for strong willed slaves. I don't think he would mind if I killed you off for him."

"Just try it." the female hanyou growled out through grit teeth while keeping her aqua colored eyes locked on the snake mage.

Smiling evilly while drawing his sword up into an attack position, the mage smartly replied "I will, with pleasure."

--

Sliding apart about twenty feet, the dog demon and the snake demon stared one another down like they had so many times. Neither was fatigued, but neither had the upper hand in the fight either.

Grinning, the white haired snake mage whimsically said "My, my Lord Sesshomaru, it seems we have a stalemate."

Not bothering to respond to the words of the mage, the dog demon charged towards the white haired mage with his sword held out to his right side and only his right hand holding it. Nearing the mage, he flicked his left hand at the mage, causing a green energy whip to suddenly flare out and lash out at the snake demon.

Seeing the oncoming attack, the mage easily evaded the oncoming whip, only to be surprised by the dog demon increasing his speed and slashing out at him with his sword. Ducking just before the blade was about to take his head off, the mage saw a few hairs fall towards the ground and quickly planted his right hand onto the ground and flipped himself backwards to escape the demon lord.

Noting irritation flickering within the demon lord's normal cold amber eyes, Ichimaru smugly said "You are rather impressive, but I see the irritation building within you. Tell me, is that lowly female half breed really worth all of this trouble?"

Feeling his anger rising, Sesshomaru tamped it down quickly and stoically replied "You shall pay for your transgressions mage. Do not think that you can do as you please within this Sesshomaru's lands without punishment to follow. Nor can you attack servants of that belong to this Sesshomaru."

"The same old answer from you." the mage commented with a smile. "Very well, I shall have to start taking this battle more serious I see."

Drawing his sword up to his right side and pointing it towards the dog demon, the snake mage smiled even wider and charged forward. Lashing out at the demon lord, the dog demon expertly brought his sword up and parried the attack, sending a shower of sparks flying. Again and again, the white haired snake demon struck out at the dog demon, only to be parried time and time again.

Sliding backwards about ten feet, the mage drew his sword in front of his body and placed both hands on the hilt. Smirking like always, the mage's light violet demonic aura began spilling out of his body and filling the air with it's thick feeling. Watching the mage intently, the dog demon readied himself for the mage's next move.

"_What is he up to? His demonic aura is quite powerful, but I could easily match it, and he knows that much. So why bother begin flaring it out?_"

Smiling broadly like always, the mage called out "Now die!"

Waking from his thoughts upon hearing the mage's words, Sesshomaru saw the mage charging towards him with his aura still flaring. Charging forward himself in a similar manner, the dog demon lord readied himself for the inevitable clash.

The two clashed together in a flash with their clothing flaring wildly around them. The pair quickly split apart, with the pair running a short distance away from one another before coming to a stop. After a moment, the aura of the mage flared out till he glanced at the black sleeve on his left hand, which had a small slash in it, causing his aura to settle.

Turning, the mage met Sesshomaru's incoming attack with a one-handed parry, sending heated sparks into the air. Frowning while eyeing his sleeve still, the mage reached up and took hold of his sword with his second hand and parried more of the dog demon's ferocious onslaught. Again and again, the demon lord slashed out at the mage, only to be parried. At long last, he retreated a short distance, allowing Ichimaru to examine his kimono top once more.

Reaching over and ripping the torn sleeve off, the mage threw it towards the dog demon, who slashed out at the cloth, knocking it away. The cloth obscured his vision for only a moment, but that was all the snake mage needed to charge the demon lord. On the attack, the snake demon lashed out with a series of high speed lunges at the dog demon, who managed to block or evade each of the lunges.

"Well Western Lord, what do you think now? Do you still like your chances?" Ichimaru smartly questioned while still thrusting his sword forward.

Without warning, a green energy whip suddenly wrapped around the snake demon's sword, causing his multiple attacks to come to an end. Brow furrowing deeply, the mage slashed his sword downwards, throwing the green energy whip off of his sword and allowing it to recoil back to the dog demon.

Eyeing the dog demon carefully, the mage said in a tight voice "I see, you are more trouble than I thought you'd be. In that case, it is time to end this little fight."

Pointing his sword straight at the demon lord with one hand, the snake demon coldly called out while opening his squinting eyes to reveal blood red irises "Pierce his flesh, Shinsō."

The sword instantly began lengthening at lightning fast speed, so fast that Sesshomaru could only move his sword up and turn it onto it's broad side and block the tip of the blade. Upon the snake mage's sword striking the dog demon's sword, the dog demon was pushed backwards with his feet skidding.

Irked by the mage's attack, the dog demon planted his feet firmly to the ground, forcing the attack that was pushing him backwards to quickly come to a grinding stop. Feeling the pressure still being exerted onto his sword, the dog demon continued pushing back against the snake mage, who frowned heavily at the demon lord.

The sword of the snake demon slowly retracted away from the demon lord, only to suddenly race forward once more and slam heavily into the blade of the demon lord. Again and again, the snake mage's sword struck the dog demon's sword, sending sparks flying into the air.

"That fang of yours will not be able to withstand the power of my Shinsō. You might as well surrender now, Lord Sesshomaru." Ichimaru remarked with a devilish grin.

Casting his cold amber eyes towards the mage, Sesshomaru stoically replied "A foolish mage like you could never break Bakusaiga."

Angered by the dog demon's words, the mage snarled back "We'll see!"

Pulling back a bit, the blade of the snake demon slammed forward once again into the broad end of Bakusaiga once again, only to send out a shower of sparks like before. The mage repeated the process, over and over, pushing the dog demon backwards a few inches each time.

Irked by the mage's persistence, the dog demon began calling up his demonic aura. Without warning, light blue energy began surging through the dog demon's sword. Waiting for the right opportunity for when the blade of the mage's contacted his own, the demon lord coldly called out "Dragon Strike!"

Light blue lightning instantly formed around the dog demon, with the shape of a light blue electric dragon that had horns on it's head, a beard, and a long snake like body with clawed hands and feet forming. The dragon raced forward with the lightning along side of it.

Seeing the incoming attack, the mage called forth a barrier around his body. The blue lightning streaks struck the barrier, causing no damage while the electric dragon hovered nearby.

"Come now, is that…" the mage began, but suddenly cried out in pain from electricity coursing through his body. Glancing down, the mage saw that his own sword had served as a conductor for the attack, allowing the dog demon to bypass his barrier, which dissolved due to the mage's lack of concentration.

Noting the barrier was down, the electric dragon moved in and wrapped itself around the mage while howling loudly. Electricity poured through the mage's body, making him scream out in tremendous pain. An explosion soon ensued, sending dust and debris flying every which way in the area.

Watching the snake demon's sword retract, the dog demon calmly walked back towards where the mage had been standing. Arriving, he saw the snake demon barely standing with smoke pouring off of his body and his hands singed while still holding his sword.

Looking up at the dog demon, the mage growled lowly to himself, but stopped after a moment and smirked once more.

"This Sesshomaru fails to see what is entertaining. Foolish mage, did you honestly think a weakling like yourself could destroy this Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga?"

Lightly chuckling, the mage drew his sword up and sheathed it, saying "No, I would say I do not have the power to break that sword of yours. Still, to think you are superior to me is more foolish. Observe!"

Upon finishing his words, the mage began a series of high speed hand signs. Finishing, he cried out "Illusion Spell, Kokuangyou!"

Before Sesshomaru could react, the entire area suddenly turned dark, with the dog demon only being able to see his own body and sword. "_That foolish mage, what has he done? My senses seem to be compromised. My sense of smell, sight, hearing, and ability to sense demonic auras seems to be dull._"

"What have you done, mage?" Sesshomaru disdainfully questioned aloud.

Hearing a chuckle from the snake demon, the demon lord heard the mage reply "Nothing much. This spell won't harm you, but it does dull your senses, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. For now, just enjoy the peace and tranquility that I've given you before your death."

Glancing about the area of darkness, the dog demon extended his senses, only to find he could not sense the snake mage at all. Remaining calm, the dog demon patiently waited for some sign to where the mage might be while remaining on guard.

Several minutes passed till finally, the darkness began fading. Sesshomaru's guard was instantly up while he examined the area. Finding the snake mage still nearby, he kept his emotionless mask on and remained quiet.

Taking in the scents of the area, he found a familiar one in the air that was rushing towards his location. Casting his amber eyes in the direction of the scent, he mentally gasped when he saw the familiar half wolf demon rushing towards him. She came to a stop up beside of him, seemingly lightly winded.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm glad I managed to make it before you finished him." she panted out.

Not even looking to the young half demon, Sesshomaru emotionlessly asked "Where is Kohaku?"

Looking away, the female half demon lowly said "He's hurt and couldn't come with me. He told me to go ahead and help you."

"What of the other snake mage?" the demon lord asked.

Sighing and still not daring to look up at the dog demon, the female half wolf demon quietly replied "He managed to escape us. He used some kind of spell to dull our senses. Once he was gone, Kohaku told me to move on ahead and help you out."

"Now that I'm here, we can finish this mage off." Rin added with a touch of eagerness in her voice.

"Oh my, two on one? That's not very fair, now is it?" Ichimaru commented with a grin.

Lightly growling, the female half demon prepared to fire back with a harsh comment, only to be silenced with a loud gasp when the sword of the dog demon was buried deeply into her chest. A moment passed before she felt blood running down from her mouth. Looking up at the dog demon with tears in her aqua eyes, she whimpered out "Why Lord Sesshomaru?"

Cold amber eyes met the aqua ones for a brief moment before the dog demon coldly said "You are not my ward. Your scent is like hers, but you are not my ward. She would never leave a comrade behind, especially that half fire demon."

Eyes growing dim, the half wolf demon let out a gurgling sound from her drowning in her own blood. A moment later, the form of the half demon disappeared, revealing the form of the snake mage, but that faded quickly into dry white skin.

Turning back to face the mage, the dog demon disdainfully said "Foolish mage, your illusions will not trick this Sesshomaru a second time. You are too weak to fight this Sesshomaru, thus you must rely on trickery to try and win. This Sesshomaru however cannot be easily deterred."

Growling lowly and angrily to himself, the snake demon's light violet aura flared to life around him while he opened his eyes wide, revealing his red irises. "YOU DARE TO MOCK ME!? I SHALL CRUSH YOU, ONCE AND FOR ALL FOR YOUR ARROGANCE AND DEFIANCE!" the mage bellowed.

Glowing with a brighter aura, the mage's body vanished from view while smoke filled the air. A moment passed before the smoke slowly began pulling back, revealing a large white cobra snake that had a skin hood flapping off of it's head. The snake flicked it's tongue in and out, seemingly taunting the dog demon.

"You will pay for your arrogance!" the snake hissed out at the demon lord.

Racing forward, the snake dived towards the dog demon with it's jaws opened. Seeing the incoming attack, the dog demon leapt into the air, allowing him to easily escape the snake demon's attack. While still in mid-air, the snake demon's tail flicked up and slammed heavily into the dog demon's back, making him grunt out loud while being flung away from the snake, who quickly began racing after the flying dog demon's form with it's jaws snapping open and closed.

--

Panting lightly while glaring at the white skinned snake demon, Kohaku lightly growled when the mage began advancing on him once more. Readying his chain scythe, he flung it in the direction of the mage, only to miss severing the mage's head from his body by a few inches.

Picking up where her friend had left off, Rin went rushing in at the snake mage with Aiko held out at her side. Reaching the mage, she slashed out at the mage, not at all surprised when their blades clashed together and sending out a small shower of sparks.

Again and again, the pair's swords clashed against one another until at last the rattling of a chain filled the air, causing the pair to split apart while the chain scythe sliced through the air where the snake mage had once stood.

Jerking his scythe back to his right hand, the half fire demon glared towards the mage while the half wolf demon returned to his side. "_Damn, that mage is so fast. No matter what I do, I can't catch him off guard and hit him with my chain scythe. It's like he anticipates every move I'm about to make before I make it._"

Casting a glance at her friend, Rin returned her vision to the snake mage. "_No matter what I do, I can't get past his defenses. The more I try to use my speed, the more he increases his own to keep up with me. Lord Sesshomaru warned me that I most likely can keep up this pace for only an hour, and then I'll start to slow. At this point, I've only got a short period left I think before I lose that speed. That means I only have one choice left._"

Once more glancing at Kohaku, she made her decision in her mind. In a low whisper, she softly said "Kohaku, I want you to stay back for a few minutes."

Quickly looking towards Rin to argue, the half fire demon began to say something when the half wolf demon vanished in a flash. She soon reappeared before the snake demon, who smiled evilly at the oncoming attack.

Slashing out at the mage, the half wolf demon wasn't surprised at all when the mage's sword clashed with her sword. Vanishing once more, the female half demon began racing in circles around the snake demon, who watched her with his olive eyes. A trail of dust and debris was the only clue to her position, making it easy for the mage to keep track of her movements.

"That trick won't work, remember?" the mage smugly remarked.

Not answering, the half demon began moving faster, so fast that the dust and debris no longer gave away her position. Instantly, the snake demon found he could no longer track the half demon, so he moved himself into a defensive stance to ready himself for any attack the half wolf might make.

Watching the mage shifting his stance, Rin slightly grinned within her mind. Readying herself, she increased her speed a bit more. Appearing right before the mage, she swung at him, but quickly vanished once more, leaving behind only an afterimage of herself attacking. Taking the bait, the mage slashed out at the image, only to gasp in shock when his sword passed through the image. Finding an opening, the half wolf demon reappeared behind the snake mage and plunged her sword straight through his back, causing a strangled gasp to escape the mage when the blade of Aiko plunged out of his chest.

Pulling Aiko downwards, Rin slashed completely through the mage's body, splitting him into two pieces. Spinning around, she cleanly cut through the mage's neck, beheading him without a sign of being disturbed by the sight of the blood spurting all over the ground.

Retreating a ways away, she glanced at the half fire demon and yelled "Kohaku, now, roast him up before he regenerates!"

Waking from his shock of watching the half wolf demon, the male half demon nodded and turned his attention to the snake mage's remains. Holding his hands out, he shot out a stream of fire from each hand, easily incinerating several pieces of the snake demon's body.

Panting lightly while stopping the flames from his hands, the male half demon examined the burnt chunks of flesh along with the female half demon. Coming to the same conclusion, the two cast a small smile to one another while moving closer to each other.

"I think that did it, Kohaku." Rin warmly remarked while staring at the smoldering remains.

Smiling back, Kohaku replied "I hope so. He was tough, and I'd rather not keep facing him."

"Allow me to break the bad news to you then." a voice spoke up, forcing the two to reexamine the remains of the snake mage.

Slithering out from under a piece of the mage was the very head of the snake demon. Smirking coldly, he lightly chuckled at the bewildered looks he was receiving from the half demons.

"Surprised to see me again? I told you, you can't kill me. I am immortal, and will prevail over both of you!" he smugly remarked.

Before the two could retort or do anything in response, the snake mage grunted out loudly while his neck began spewing out green liquid. Slowly, flesh began sliding out of the neck and slowly took form in the shape of the mage's former body. Bit by bit, the flesh completely reconstructed the form of the snake demon's body. Standing up at long last, the mage evilly chuckled while shaking some of the green liquid off of his body.

"You two seem surprised. Didn't I tell you, my Eternal Life spell would keep me alive? Did you two fools already forget!?" Orochimaru bellowed.

Lightly growling, the two half demons readied themselves for another attack while the mage picked up his sword from nearby.

Before either side could move, a voice cut through the air, saying "Orochimaru, that's enough."


	53. Chapter 52: Slippery Snakes, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Man, what an extremely busy week I've been having. Our project is nearing a close, but of course we have tons of stuff to work on. Btw, in case no one knew, I work for a software development company who contracts out to the Air Force. It's a really nice job, but this project has been stressful the last few weeks due that time is running out and stuff is needed to be done that kept getting put off. Anyways, I've been hard at work on the project, but I managed to find time to write, so yay for me and everyone else. Other than that, life is just peachy, I suppose.**

**Writing wise, like I said earlier, I managed to find time to write this week, somehow, so I did a chapter. Still, I can't say for sure if I'll have the next chapter done next week, so be wary, sadly, until I get back into a more normal mode again.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**kattana: Yeah, too bad that Orochimaru couldn't be cooked. He would have went well with a slab of bacon, hehe. But yes, he's one tough snake demon. Heh, true, no one seems to know what to do with him, but oh well. Yeah, the stuff he has plans to do with Kohaku would horrify anyone I would suspect. Hopefully he'll listen to his comrades, but who knows (other than me and my mate, hehe) about that. Heh, true, Ichimaru may have only dreams in his head about defeating Sesshomaru, but now it seems he has the upper hand, so I wouldn't count him out. True, one would wonder why Ichimaru thinks he can beat Sesshomaru, but again, he seems to be semi-winning now. Lol, true, big shoes to fill. Thanks for the review!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Glad you liked the chapter. Yes, Sesshomaru managed to get to Ichimaru, who has grown angry enough to transform into his true demon form. I didn't know that about Ichimaru's eyes. The only time I've seen them was when he was fighting Hitsugaya back in episode 48. Interesting that they change. Lol, yeah, Orochimaru seems to like the male slaves, more so than anyone wanted to know, hehe. I'm sure that line about him taking Kohaku to bed does creep a lot of people out. I know it kind of gave me the creeps too, hehe. LOL! Looks like you go on quite a trip when you're get a bit of a creep out. Cool about putting out some fics. If I ever get time, I may check on them, but I wouldn't count on it anytime soon, sadly. Um… I'm not updating twice a week. More like twice a month at this point and time, unless I manage to keep writing constantly and more frequently. Lol, I'd love to read Eragon, but I have no time, ever, hehe. (/Watches pink flower petals float by and head towards you.\) Um… Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I really enjoyed reading them. I also thank all of you for bearing with me in this time that I'm having difficulty in writing on this story. I promise, I'm trying to do my best in updating this story, but with work being so crazy and stressful, it's hard to find time. Not to mention, I have a second story to work on… It never ends! Plus all the real life stuff that is out there. Anyways, thank you to all of you for sticking with me.**

**At any rate, I need to go, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 52**

Glancing behind himself, the snake demon smirked and said "Ah, Jiraiya and Tsunade. I see the two of you are still alive, and have those two slaves you desired."

Spotting the black haired dog demon, Orochimaru smirked once more, saying "And it seems you have a prisoner as well. Congratulations."

Returning his vision to the half wolf and half fire demons, he added "Now, excuse me while I collect my own slave and help my brother as well."

"Orochimaru, we did not capture them." Jiraiya firmly replied. "And we will never. We released them instead."

Spinning around towards the dog mages quickly, the snake snarled out "Why not!? You fools, you will have to wait on capturing other slaves for some time!"

"It's over Orochimaru." Tsunade solemnly commented.

The snake demon was about to fiercely reply when the white haired dog demon intercepted him and said "Orochimaru, I have to ask you something. All these years that The Thirteen has been together, you knew our objective, correct?"

Settling slightly, the snake demon nodded in reply. Continuing on, the white haired dog demon added "Our objective was to bring down the four demon lords of the four lands. It was a simple objective, one would think, but over the years, we have accomplished little in completing this goal."

Taking a ragged breath, the mage continued on, saying "We have had more than ample opportunity to destroy the four lands. Twice, a lord of the four lands has died, but we've yet to capitalize on that. The Western and Southern Lands were ripe for the taking, yet we didn't act."

"And then there is the fact that Byakuya has allowed the half demon, Iya Taisho, to continue to follow us for the last two-hundred-fifty years. It has been ludicrous and foolish for this to continue on while he has cut our numbers down by nearly half. We should have been allowed long ago to kill him, yet Byakuya has allowed him to continue to follow us, along with that quarter demon, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Your point is?" Orochimaru grumbled.

Sadly smiling, Jiraiya replied "We've been told for years we'll save this land by doing this and overthrowing the four demon lords, but in the long run, it will do nothing but create more chaos. Byakuya lied to us, and continues to so long as we buy into it. If we were going to take out the four demon lords, we'd have done this long ago, not still be saying we would. Don't you see, he has lied to all of us."

Taking a deep breath, the mage slowly added "I think it's time we put a stop to this ambition of his. Whatever he's planning isn't for the benefit of all of us, or for the people of the four lands. Besides that, the way things are right now, the four lords are on equal footing. None of them dares to wage war with one another. If they did, whoever won would be left weakened, thus opening the door for another lord to attack them, and it would continue on and on till there was only one, or none left."

"Do you understand Orochimaru? This plan of Byakuya's, it's pointless. The four lands will never become one, until someone fit is found to rule them. None of us are fit for the job, and I'll be damned if I let Byakuya continue running The Thirteen into the ground till there are no members left. That is why both Tsunade and I can no longer fight this war. So please, I ask you, join the two of us and help stop this senseless fighting. We have no reason to continue on this way."

Rolling the words of the white haired dog demon around in his mind for a moment, the snake demon turned away. Finally, after a few moments, he turned back towards the dog mage and slowly said "I see what you mean. Now that I think about it, after all this time, it does make sense that Byakuya has his own agenda, and not one that we are a part of."

Lightly smiling, the snake mage added "Let's go get my brother, Jiraiya, before he does something to the Lord of the West."

Nodding in reply, Jiraiya replied "Yes, let's go get him and then go after the others. Perhaps we can stop the others from making the same mistakes we have."

Turning away from the snake mage, the white haired and blonde haired dog demons began walking away. Seeing this, the half demons began to release their tension, each allowing their guard down and turned away also.

Without warning, a high piercing scream of pain filled the air. The entire group turned back towards the noise, finding that Jiraiya had been the source of the scream. On his left shoulder was Orochimaru's head, with his fangs now elongated and sunk deep into the dog demon's shoulder. The snake mage's head was on his elongated neck.

After a moment, the mage released his bite on the dog demon and retracted his head and neck to his body. The white haired dog demon fell to his knees instantly while placing a hand onto his shoulder at the site of the wound. The female blonde haired dog demon quickly rushed to her comrade's aide, with her examining the wound momentarily.

Maniacal laughter soon filled the air, grabbing all of the demons and half demons' attention to find it was the snake mage with an evil smile on his face.

Wincing in pain, Jiraiya glanced over his shoulder, weakly saying "Why Orochimaru, why did you do that?"

"Jiraiya, you were always too trusting. Never would I have imagined that you would betray The Thirteen." Orochimaru responded in a flat tone. "You should have stayed the blind dog that you are to all the events happening around you. Because of your curiosity, I must now kill you and your dear friend, Tsunade, along with all these others."

Clenching his right fist tightly, the white haired dog demon pushed himself up, but barely managed to stand. He turned towards the snake mage with a pained expression on his face, but pushed the pain out of his mind the best he could. Without warning, a flash of pain flared through his body, forcing him back down to one knee while he bit his lower lip to keep from yelling out while he lightly panted.

Wincing while speaking, the white haired dog mage slowly said "Orochimaru, in the end, Byakuya will kill you. Why, why are you doing this? Join us, so we can stop him before it's too late."

Cackling at the dog demon, the snake mage smugly replied "Do you take me a fool, Jiraiya? I know that in the end, Byakuya will kill all of us, but I have no intentions on allowing that foolish wolf demon that pleasure. No, by then, my brother and I shall kill him and any others that still live."

"Don't be a fool Orochimaru…" Jiraiya fiercely remarked, but quickly grimaced and clutched the wound on his shoulder tightly.

Seeing her friend's pain, Tsunade placed a gentle hand on the male dog demon's, saying "Take it easy Jiraiya."

Casting a glare at the snake mage, the female dog demon fiercely asked "What did you do to Jiraiya!?"

Darkly chuckling, the snake demon silkily replied with "I gave him a taste of my poison. It's rather powerful, for no demon has yet to survive it."

"It will start out slow, with his body beginning to tingle and feel numb. After a few minutes, his body will begin to ache, till finally, after five minutes, his entire body will begin to burn like he's being burned alive from the inside. His breathing will become shallower and shallower, until the ten minute mark, when his body will simply shutdown and he will just die."

Hearing the words come out of the snake demon's mouth, the female dog demon's golden eyes widened a fraction while a small gasp escaped her mouth. She quickly glanced down at her friend, whose breathing was already down to pants.

"No one has survived my poison, dear Tsunade." Orochimaru smugly commented. "So don't think Jiraiya will find a way to. Like all that have come before him, he will die."

Casting a glare at the mage, she fiercely replied "I won't let him die!"

"You think you can save your comrade, eh?" the snake demon questioned with a smirk. Moving into a hunched over position, the snake mage smartly said "Let's see you save him once you're dead!"

Without warning, the snake demon went racing forward towards the female dog demon, who seemed frozen in fear from the attack. Witnessing this, the white haired dog demon began a series of hand signs, but quickly realized that his speed had sharply fallen.

"_I'll never complete the signs in time!_" he mentally cursed.

Only five feet away, the snake demon's neck extended, with his head taking to the air. The demon's fangs quickly elongated while he opened his jaws and prepared to clamp down onto the female dog demon's body. Speeding ahead, the snake demon lashed out at his target while female mage shut her eyes tightly.

A scream filled the air, but instead of it being one of a female, it was a male scream. Standing before the two dog demons, with his arms spread wide to protect them and his back to the snake demon was the half fire demon. Realizing he had struck at the wrong target, the snake demon pulled back and retracted his head to his body while backing away to a safe distance of twenty feet.

Coughing weakly, the half fire demon looked down at the two dog demons, who both had shocked expressions on their faces.

"You…" the blonde haired dog demon mumbled in shock.

Softly smiling while his eyes began to glaze over with pain, the half fire demon quietly replied "I couldn't just standby and do nothing any longer."

"KOHAKU!" Rin and Sango screamed in unison while the half wolf demon went running towards the half fire demon. Quickly, she sheathed her sword and was up to the side of the half fire demon in a flash. Arriving, she managed to catch him just as he began to fall to the ground.

Angrily, Orochimaru snarled out "NO! Damn it, I wanted him unharmed!"

Ignoring the snake demon, the half wolf demon gently laid the half fire demon onto the ground, but noted he was already starting to pant. "Stay with me Kohaku, don't you dare die on me. I didn't die when you took care of me, so don't you dare die on me." she firmly commanded.

"I'll try…" he meekly replied with a small smile.

Glancing at the white haired dog demon, the female dog demon quietly said "Hang in there Jiraiya. I'll use one of my healing spells to remove the poison from your body. You just have to remain still, alright?"

"No."

Lightly growling, the female mage grit out "Jiraiya, this is not the time to play heroics. I have to save you before the poison kills you! It takes seven minutes to remove the poison, so just pipe down and let me help you."

"No Tsunade, don't save me." Jiraiya muttered with a pained expression. Glancing at the kneeling half wolf demon who was standing over the half fire demon, he motioned his hand towards the half fire demon, saying "Tsunade, I want you to save that boy instead."

"Have you lost your mind!?" the female dog demon growled. "You're going to die in less than ten minutes if I don't heal you! I already lost Don due that I wasn't strong enough, so I won't dare lose my dearest friend the same way!"

Giving her a feigned smile, the white haired dog demon shook his head and whispered "I know you lost Don due that you weren't capable enough at the time to save him, but this isn't about me. That half demon, he has his whole life ahead of him and deserves a chance to live. I on the other hand have had many years to live, yet I've not used them for the best intentions. You have a chance to save him and give him a chance to fight on throughout his life."

Quieting for a moment, he softly added "Tsunade, save him. It's my last request. He deserves it far more than I do."

Feeling tears coming into the corners of her eyes, the blonde haired mage shook her head violently, saying "Please, no, don't make me do this. You're my best friend."

"And that's why I ask you to do this for me. It's the only thing I know I can do before I die here today. Please, just do this for me."

Tears slowly slid down the female mage's face while she stared into the black coal eyes of her long time friend. Seeing he was sure of his decision, she weakly nodded. Glancing over at the half wolf and half fire demons, she called out, saying "Girl, bring him here. I'll save him if you do."

Glancing back at the female dog demon, the half wolf demon saw the tears streaming down the mage's face. Not sensing any ill will in the mage, Rin nodded and carefully lifted Kohaku and carried him over to Tsunade and set him down before her.

Placing her hands over the half fire demon's chest, the female mage closed her eyes and began blocking all sounds around her while she concentrated on her healing spell. The mage's hands instantly began to glow with a light green energy while she lowered them a bit closer to the half fire demon's chest, till they were just barely an inch above it.

"YOU TWO WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" Orochimaru's voice filled the air, causing the entire group to go on guard.

Glaring fiercely at Tsunade and Jiraiya, the snake mage angrily yelled "I will kill the two of you traitors first for your foolish decision to go against the will of The Thirteen. I'll enjoy killing you both slowly."

Eyeing the half demons and the other dog demon, he added "I will then take great pleasure in killing the remainder of you, with exception of perhaps my slave, and maybe my brother's as well. I still think she is far too headstrong for his liking. Perhaps I'll do him a favor and kill you now, my dear."

Pointing his sword at the half wolf demon, he grinned evilly and said "I'll begin with you, for your interference has been annoying and far more irritating than I expected."

"Just try me." Rin firmly replied while drawing Aiko out of it's sheath and moving into a ready position.

Lightly chuckling, the mage smugly replied "With pleasure."

In a flash, the snake mage went flying towards Rin with his sword drawn at his side. Not wanting to be so close to the two mages behind her and her fallen comrade, the half wolf demon raced in the direction of the mage to meet him head on.

Before the two could clash, a battle cry was released, saying "Hiraikotsu!"

Zooming in with a humming noise, a large white bone boomerang flew towards the mage, who quickly raised his sword and managed block the bone weapon from splitting him in two. Backing away, the snake demon watched as the half silver fox moved up beside of the female half wolf demon while her weapon returned to her.

"Bastard, you stay away from them! I won't let you hurt my brother!" Sango fiercely declared while glaring at the snake demon.

Casting a small glance towards the former demon exterminator, Rin whispered "Thanks Sango for your assistance."

"Think nothing of it." the half silver fox softly replied.

Lightly chuckling, the snake demon began to say something, but was stopped when a yell filled the air. "Fox Fire!"

Without warning, green flames slammed into the chest of the snake demon, forcing him to back away a bit more. Coming up beside of his mate, the half red fox firmly said "We will not let you harm any of them."

Joining the trio, the black haired dog mage added "If you want to fight, then come fight us."

"The four of you are pitiful. Why I should bother to waste my time on any of you is really a question I can't answer." Orochimaru mused. Glancing from one to one, he slowly said "The wolf brat is nothing now due that her speed will soon falter. Then there is the silver fox, who is obviously tired. The red fox is nothing to worry one's self over due to his limited power. And as for the dog mage, he is nothing impressive."

All three half demons and the lone dog demon each felt their hackles raise at the words of the snake mage, with each ready to attack. Still, each held their tempers and their selves in check instead, much to the chagrin of the snake mage.

Glancing behind the half demons and the lone dog demon at the two dog demons and the fallen half fire demon, the snake demon took to the air and flew backwards about twenty feet. Smiling evilly, the snake smartly said "I shall take all of you out with ease. Say your goodbyes before I crush you into nothing!"

With his words finished, the snake demon's body began to glow with a dark, thick purple aura that covered him from head to toe. His eyes turned completely white and he let out a dark cackle while his body suddenly glowed even brighter. A thick dark purple smoke soon began filling the air, blocking everyone's view.

Rising out of the smoke without warning was a large purple snake head, with two short stubby horns on each side of it's head, black corneas, with green irises. The snake continued to rise, with it's underbelly being shown to be a black color while the top of it's body was purple with black stripes every twenty feet of it's length. Slowly, the purple fog vanished, revealing the entire body of the purple snake creature, which glared down at the seven on the ground. Flicking it's tongue in and out, the snake let out a low chuckle while seemingly smirking.

"He transformed into his true form…" Ryo mumbled with a touch of irritation.

Staring at the snake before them, Rin flatly said "We will still stop him. No matter what, we have to kill Orochimaru. He's too dangerous to let live."

"You'll get no argument here." Sango commented.

Nodding his head, Miroku added "I agree, we have to stop him."

Hearing a loud chuckling, the group glanced up to see that it was the large purple snake. In a darker, loud tone, the snake smartly said "You fools don't stand a chance against me in my true demon form. Even before you didn't stand a chance, but now you have absolutely no chance in surviving."

Coiling up, the snake demon added "I'll begin with the traitors and work my way towards you weaklings. Trust me, it'll all be over soon. Give my regards to the other Thirteen members in hell!"

With his words finished, the large purple snake uncoiled his body and launched himself forward towards the group, but raised his body so he was higher than them. The group quickly realized his target was the blonde haired dog demon and the two fallen comrades.

Gripping her weapon tightly while her right hand glowed with green demonic energy, the half silver fox flung her boomerang as hard as she could at the snake's head, screaming out "Hiraikotsu!"

Upon the bone weapon being released from the half fox demon's right hand, vines on the boomerang instantly grew, with large sharp thorns sprouting from the vines. Seeing the incoming attack out of the corner of his eye, the snake demon turned it's head to the side, allowing the boomerang to merely graze the side of it's skull, leaving a bloody stripe in it's wake. Not deterred by it's wound, the snake continued on towards it's target.

"FOX FIRE!"

Hearing the yell, the snake caught a flash of green flames coming at him from behind out of the corner of his eye. Paying no heed to the flames, the purple snake allowed the flames to hit him, but suddenly heard another voice cut through the air.

"Katon Karyuu Endan!"

Flying through the green flames without warning was a red flame dragon, which let out a mighty roar before it slammed heavily into the snake demon, making the snake hiss out in pain from the extreme heat of the flames and stop it's advance while it shook it's head back and forth to knock the flames off of it's body.

Growling lowly, the snake began to change direction, but stopped and quickly raced onwards towards the three targets that it had originally planned to strike.

--

Seeing the approaching snake demon, Jiraiya winced in pain while raising his hands before his body. Sensing her friend's pain, Tsunade cracked her eyes open and softly said "Jiraiya, don't move. You'll only make it worse."

"He's coming, Tsunade. They can't divert his attention from us." the white haired dog demon quietly remarked with a raspy voice.

Casting a small glance in the direction of the snake mage, the female dog demon hesitated, causing the green glow around her hands to flicker.

"You can't stop. If you do, he'll die." the male dog demon quietly said.

Biting her lower lip, the female mage was about to respond when she suddenly noticed the purple snake was directly above the group about one hundred feet in the air.

"DIE TRAITORS!" the snake hissed loudly while barring it's fangs towards the two mages and the half fire demon.

Eyes widening, Tsunade began to release her spell, but before she could do or say anything or even release her healing spell, she heard Jiraiya yell "I won't let you kill us, Orochimaru! Summoning Spell, Toad Mouth Trap!"

Slamming his open palm onto the ground, the white haired mage let out a heavy grunt while sweat poured down his face. Instantly, walls of red muscular flesh rose up out of the ground, forming an ellipse like shape around the three. Just as the snake was about to smash into the small group, the snake ran straight into the red flesh walls, causing him to bounce off.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME THAT EASILY!" the snake roared and pulled back it's head to bare it's fangs. Charging forward, the snake attempted to sink his fangs into the flesh walls, but found they withstood his fangs, forcing him backwards a bit.

Angered by his failed attempt to chew through the flesh, the snake began coiling it's body around the flesh structure and began squeezing it tightly between it's coils. The walls gave way a bit, but not enough to collapse the structure. Increasingly angered by this, the snake began tightening it's grip even more, till the point it could no more increase it. Finding the structure was still intact, the snake roared loudly and flung it's head up into the air and smashed it's head again and again against the structure, causing no damage at all.

"COME OUT COWARDS SO I CAN KILL YOU!" the purple snake howled.

Receiving no answer, the snake released a loud roar and slammed it's head once more against the flesh walled structure, but once more did no damage.

Watching this commotion, the group of three half demons and the lone dog demon each let out a sigh of relief that the snake demon had yet to punch through the fleshy structure.

"They're safe for now." Ryo softly commented.

Nodding in agreement, Miroku asked "But for how long? Jiraiya was poisoned, remember? Will it fall when he dies?"

Thinking for a moment, the dog demon sighed and replied "I'm not sure, but I can only hope that Jiraiya put everything he had into that spell. If he did, it should last for some time."

Staring at the fleshy building, Rin whispered in her mind "_Kohaku, stay alive._"

"We have to kill that demon before they come back out." Sango firmly declared, drawing all of the groups' attention.

In agreement, the group nodded. Quickly, the half wolf demon calmly said "You guys need to know something before we fight him though."

Seeing she had the groups' attention, Rin continued, saying "Orochimaru informed Kohaku and I of a spell that he is using, and before you guys arrived, he demonstrated it to us. It's called Eternal Life, and it's rather powerful. If he is dealt a blow in battle, he simply regenerates himself from the damage. He can continuously use it over and over, so long as a chunk of his body is lying around."

"That powerful a spell has to have a cost…" Ryo mumbled while placing his chin in his left hand.

Nodding in reply, Rin replied "It does indeed. Every three years, his body begins to breakdown, and he must transfer his soul into another body, or else he will die. By doing this, the host body's soul that he transfers into dies and he takes over their body completely, abilities and all. That's what he plans to do with Kohaku in a few months…"

"That bastard…" the half silver fox lowly growled while clenching her right fist tightly. Her claws instantly dug into her palms, causing them to bleed lightly.

Seeing this, the half red fox reached over and took hold of the half silver fox's hand and softly said "Calm down Sango."

Taking a deep breath, the half silver fox closed her eyes and finally reopened them, gritting out "I'll try, but what that bastard plans to do to my brother is beyond forgiveness. He'll die for all his transgressions."

"The question is, how do we kill him?" Ryo remarked. Keeping his chin in his hand for another moment, he finally lowered his hand and asked "Sango, do you have enough strength left to capture him in vines and hold him to the ground?"

Staring down at the ground for a moment, Sango finally raised her head and nodded, saying "I think I have enough power left. Fighting Jiraiya took a lot out of me, but I think I have enough strength left to hold that snake down for a while."

Nodding in reply, Ryo turned to Miroku and said "Miroku, I need you to feed me all of the power you have to increase my own. I'm going to try and use my Armor of Wildfire and use my most powerful attack. It's the same attack I used on Gaara, so I think it will work on Orochimaru. With any luck, I'll be able…"

"Wait, that won't work." Rin piped up, earning everyone's attention.

Frowning, the black haired dog demon asked "And why not, Rin?"

"That attack you used to defeat Gaara split him in two. Orochimaru though, he can regenerate his body should he be damaged so long as a piece of him remains. If you attack him with that attack, his body will regenerate while you try to get rid of the rest of his body." the half wolf demon explained.

Digesting the half demon's words, the dog demon sighed and muttered "I guess you're right. My attack would only allow him a chance to regenerate while we use up most of our strength."

"I do have a plan though." the half wolf remarked, earning her the dog demon's attention, along with the two half fox demons. "I can transform into my wolf form, allowing me to become much faster and stronger. While I'm in that form, I'm certain I can cut him up. I just need you all to destroy the pieces of flesh once I finish."

Looking at the half wolf demon, the dog demon asked "Are you sure? I know Sesshomaru trained you and all, but…"

"Trust me, I can do this." Rin adamantly replied. "I can handle myself, so don't worry."

Mulling over the half demon's words, the dog demon heavily sighed and quietly said "You're right, your plan has a better chance at working. Still, will you be able to clear him once you finish your attack?"

Nodding in response, the half wolf demon replied "I should be able to. I just need you to take care of the mess left behind."

Getting a nod in reply, the half wolf demon glanced back at the giant purple snake that was still constricting itself around the structure made of flesh. Closing her eyes and returning Aiko to it's sheath on her back, the female half demon took a deep breath and began searching her mind and body for the power she had found while training with her guardian.

"_I have to drag out all the power I can for this. I must do this to save Kohaku. If I let him die because I was incapable of protecting him, I could never forgive myself._"

Finding the power she wished to unleash within her body, the half wolf began tapping into it and instantly felt a surge of demonic energy being released. A familiar bright light enveloped her body, causing her clothing to once more vanish while dense black fur began to grow over her bare skin. Immediately, she felt her body pulsate and then her body's bone structure starting to reshape, with her feet becoming a pair of padded paws and her legs retaining a mostly human like shape. Her hands soon began to transform into clawed paws while she kept her mostly human like fingers. Her head was last to change, with her nose and jaw growing outwards to meet one another. Each of her teeth sharpened while she felt her nose rounding to the tip of her muzzle. Slowly, she opened her eyes, revealing golden orbs that now replaced her aqua colored ones.

Hearing several gasps, the transformed half wolf demon ignored them and reached up to grab the hilt of Aiko. Drawing it out, she cast a glance back towards the black haired dog demon, saying "I'm going ahead. Be ready."

Seeing a nod in reply, the transformed half wolf vanished into thin air, leaving the others behind to prepare themselves for the attack.


	54. Chapter 53: Slippery Snakes, Pt 3

**Hey gang! Sorry about not posting last week. I was ass deep in work on my software project, but I did manage to get most of the chapter done. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to finish last week, so I had hoped to finish this past weekend, only no such luck since Saturday, my mate and I went out on a date. I planned to finish that night, but I was… detained, to say the least, hehe. So, I pushed everything back to Sunday, thinking I may finish, but no such luck once more. I went to my grandmother's, where my mom, sister, and her boyfriend were to visit. I didn't leave till late, and time I got home, I got absolutely nothing done. I again began trying to finish off the chapter during the early part of the week, but never could due to work still piling up. Finally, yesterday, my project ended, so life has calmed a bit at work. That freed me up enough to finish this chapter today. I feel a bit angry due that I didn't finish sooner, but I did try. I apologize though for not getting this out earlier. Like I said previously, when real life happens, I have no choice but to go with it first, then online stuff second.**

**At any rate, writing wise, I'm looking forward to getting back on the fast track with this story, I hope. Right now it's looking good, but we'll see.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Dark Hichigo Shirosaki: Heh, yeah, I know, I want to add more characters too, but I'm trying to stick with the plot that I began with, so adding more characters now would be hard to do that. LOL! Good luck with fighting Orochimaru. Just remember, he likes it rough, apparently, lol! Heh, yeah, Byakuya seemingly got you that sakura tree, just so he can hide behind it, oddly enough… True, his sword is interesting, but it is pretty tough admittedly. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that was it for this round of reviews. Thanks once more Hichigo for your review, I appreciate it. I know that my inconsistency is hard for everyone, but please do bear with me during this time. I promise one thing, this story will be finished. When, I'm unsure at the moment. Currently this story has 53 chapters (including this one obviously, lol), and I'm thinking there is at a minimum of at least 15 chapters left possibly. I'm trying to keep this under 75 chapters, but we'll see. I do believe that this story will be close to ending before the end of the year, but we'll have to see. At any rate, I will do my absolute best in finishing this up and trying to get chapters out weekly. Like I said, just bear with me is all I ask.**

**Anyways, I'm done for tonight. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 53**

Racing forward towards the large purple snake demon that seemed unaware of her presence, the transformed wolf hanyou readied her sword for her attack. Before she could deliver it, a familiar demonic aura began coming towards her with a very familiar scent.

Abandoning her attack run, the transformed hanyou raced away from the snake to a safe distance and reappeared to all of the other half demons and lone demon. Sniffing the air once more, she picked up the familiar scent again and glanced upwards to find a figure flying backwards through the air.

"_Lord Sesshomaru…_" she mumbled within her mind.

Before she could ask anything, her ears detected a loud thrashing sound from the woods nearby, and the scent, along with the aura, of another, yet familiar, snake demon permeated her senses. Glancing towards the direction she had seen her guardian flying from, she narrowed her golden eyes to find a large white snake racing towards the group.

Hearing her guardian landing a hundred feet away, the transformed hanyou vanished in a flash and reappeared only ten feet away from where the figure had landed. Finding him kneeling on the ground, she raced up to him quickly to check on him.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked softly.

Glancing up, the dog demon's amber eyes met her own golden ones. He took in her appearance for a moment before glancing behind her to see the large purple snake. Standing back up, the regal dog demon shook the dirt and debris off of himself to look behind the transformed wolf hanyou at what the snake demon was constricting around.

Returning his attention to Rin, the dog demon asked "Rin, what is that mage attacking?"

"Not long ago, the two dog mages, Jiraiya and Tsunade, along with Miroku, Sango, Ryo, Shippou, and Kirara, all returned. Apparently, the two mages released both Miroku and Sango from their spells, and have decided to fight against the leader of the mages, Byakuya." Rin explained. "They tried convincing Orochimaru, who seemed convinced. We were about to come after you when the snake demon suddenly attacked Jiraiya and poisoned him. He informed us all that he knew of Byakuya's underlying treachery, and didn't care about it. Once that was out of the way, he went on the attack and tried to poison the female mage, but Kohaku blocked the attack and was instead poisoned. Tsunade, on behalf of Jiraiya, began healing Kohaku with a spell that will draw out the poison. Upon realizing he had poisoned Kohaku, Orochimaru decided to kill Tsunade and Jiraiya off on his own. I intervened, along with Sango, Miroku, and Ryo, on their behalf. At that, the snake mage decided to transform into his true demon form and went straight for the two mages and Kohaku. Jiraiya managed to release a spell that summoned a giant walled structure that looks like a stomach to protect them. Ever since then, the snake mage has been obsessed with breaking through the stomach and has been attacking only it. We were about to fight him, but when I saw you flying through the air, I broke off my attack."

Nodding while digesting Rin's words, Sesshomaru glanced in the distance to see the white snake moving quickly out of the forest and towards the purple snake. "The two snakes are about to join forces. This Sesshomaru shall handle them."

"Lord Sesshomaru, you can't fight both." the transformed hanyou protested. "If you get bitten by Orochimaru, you'll die in ten minutes from his poison."

Curving his mouth into almost a smirk, the stoic demon lord calmly replied "This Sesshomaru is immune to all poison. The snake will not harm this Sesshomaru."

"But Lord Sesshomaru…"

"Rin."

Quieting, the half demon slightly nodded and replied "I understand, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Good. Go gather the others." the dog demon commanded and silently began walking away.

Watching her guardian walk at his usual slow pace towards the two large snakes, the transformed hanyou vanished into thin air once more. A few moments passed and she reappeared before the group of half fox demons and lone dog demon.

"Rin, what's going on?" Ryo asked with concern on his face.

Sighing slightly, the transformed hanyou calmly replied "Lord Sesshomaru said he would deal with the two snake mages."

Growling lightly, Ryo muttered "That fool…"

"Lord Sesshomaru can handle it. I believe in him." Rin firmly commented. "If he says he will do something, he will do it."

"It's not that we don't trust him, Rin." Miroku softly replied. "It's just that the odds aren't in his favor at the moment. Both of those snake demons are in their transformed state, and we already know what Orochimaru is capable of."

Listening to the half red fox's words, the transformed half wolf demon's golden eyes widened with fear shining in them. "I didn't tell him about Orochimaru's Eternal Life spell! If he thinks he's killed him, he could open himself to a counter attack!"

Growling lowly, the dog demon raced forward, leaving the others behind. He quickly began a series of hand signs while traveling towards the silver haired dog demon that was standing before the two snake demons.

Before the black haired dog demon could reach the location where the silver haired dog demon was, the two snakes raced forward without a word.

Watching this, the silver haired dog demon swung his single sword, flatly saying "Die."

Racing forward from the blade of the silver haired dog demon was a powerful demonic blast that slammed heavily into the ground. The blast went racing towards the pair of snake demons, who came to a screeching halt immediately on their own attack. Seeing the blast, the white snake quickly darted away while the purple one only let out a hearty laugh and let the blast hit him square on.

Pieces of the large purple snake instantly went flying about the area, with blood splattering all about the ground. Smoking hunks of charred pieces of the snake demon were littered about the area.

"BROTHER!" the white snake demon howled loudly while crawling back to where the remains of the purple snake remained. Turning towards the white haired dog demon, the white snake yelled "You will pay for what you have done to him!"

Remaining silent, Sesshomaru casually walked towards the white snake with Bakusaiga still before himself, seemingly ready to strike out at his enemy. Before he could do or say anything, he stopped when he heard someone yelling at him.

"MOVE SESSHOMARU! OROCHIMARU CAN REGENERATE HIMSELF!"

Recognizing the voice as Ryo's, the dog demon cast his amber eyes to his right, just in time to see the head of the purple snake demon lashing out at him with it's fangs bared. Moving Bakusaiga up in time, the demon lord parried the attack and was pushed backwards along the ground by the head of the snake demon.

Leaping into the air and moving away to a safe distance, the silver haired dog demon eyed the head of the purple snake and saw it's body was slowly reforming behind itself. Brow furrowing, the dog demon heard the black haired dog demon come up beside of himself and noticed he was finishing a set of hand signs.

"Fry you bastards! Fire Style: Katon Karyuu Endan!"

Inhaling deeply, the black haired dog demon took a deep breath and spat out a stream of flames that took shape of a large fire dragon. The dragon raced forward, scorching the earth underneath of itself while moving towards it's targets.

Standing it's ground, the purple snake only cackled loudly while the flames hit it. The white snake though moved from it's position, allowing the flames to clear itself.

The flames soon died down, revealing half of the purple snake demon's corpse still smoldering with hot embers all around it's body and ash covering a scorched out area. Without warning, the snake corpse rose up and slowly, sliding out of the burnt up wound, was the purple snake demon's head once more. Bit by bit, the creature pulled it's full length out and darkly chuckled once more.

Staring down at Ryo and Sesshomaru, Orochimaru smugly said "You cannot hope to defeat the two of us."

Sliding up beside of his brother, Ichimaru hissed out "Fools, this is the end for you. We might have shown mercy and made your deaths quick and painless before this battle began, but due to your impudence, you will die horrible deaths and know why The Thirteen are so feared!"

"Do you ever stop jabbering?" the black haired dog demon asked with an irritated expression on his face. "All I've heard each of you mages do thus far when I've met you is jabber on about how great and powerful each of you are in The Thirteen."

Smirking, he added "Yet, a lone half demon took down five of your members, while a quarter demon killed off another, leaving The Thirteen with only seven members. I would have to say, if I was a member, I'd be ashamed to even affiliate myself with such a group that couldn't handle themselves. It's rather disgraceful, but then again, the half demon is no ordinary half demon, now is he, Sesshomaru?"

"Hn."

"YOU DARE CHALLENGE OUR AUTHORITY!" the white snake bellowed with fire flashing in his eyes.

Staring straight at the snakes defiantly, Ryo firmly replied "No, I challenge your right to think you can destroy the four lands and eventually rule them. Neither of you, nor the rest of your brethren, have the right to rule, not to mention don't contain the mental capacity to do so either."

Releasing a loud roar, the purple snake charged forward and struck out at the two dog demons, who easily evaded the attack by splitting up, with Ryo going to the left and Sesshomaru to the right.

Landing, the two dog demons glanced at one another, with the silver haired one nodding. Seeing this, the black haired dog demon returned the nod and glanced back up at the two large snake demons who were readying themselves for another attack.

Sheathing his sword, the silver haired dog demon's red demonic aura began to flare out and hit all in the area like a shockwave. At the same time, the black haired dog demon's blue aura flared out as well, making the air around the pair much thicker. Both dog demon's eyes bled red till their irises could be seen, with the demon lord's being blue-green in color while the dog mage's were a dark orange color.

Rising into the air, the pair were engulfed in smoke and completely concealed from all. A moment passed before a large white dog with a crescent moon on it's forehead appeared out of one cloud while a large black dog with a bit of white hair on it's chest appeared from the other cloud. The two transformed dog demons landed onto the ground, with each releasing a might howl at the two snake demons, which moved till they were back to back.

"So, you two have transformed." the purple snake smugly remarked. "Not that it will help your situation."

Snarling at the purple snake, the black dog raced forward with it's jaws snapping open and closed rapidly. Readying itself by coiling up, the purple snake launched itself forward and struck out at the black dog, but was shocked when the dog managed to evade to the side of itself. With the snake's head avoided, the dog opened it's jaws and bit down into the thick body of the purple snake with it's jaws. The snake instantly let out a might hiss and tried to struggle free, but the black dog held strong while blood dripped out it's mouth.

Seeing it's brother was in trouble, the white snake began making it's way towards the large black dog, only to be intercepted by the large white dog, which snapped out at the snake's head with it's jaws. At the last moment, the white snake managed to avoid the attack and quickly began wrapping it's body around the white dog.

Not wanting to allow the snake to succeed in binding it, the white dog bit down hard onto one of the coils of the snake demon, making the snake hiss out from the pain being inflicted. Acid instantly began dripping down onto the snake's body and the ground, causing the ground itself to begin to melt.

"Didn't I tell you once, Lord Sesshomaru, that poison and acid has no effect on me!" the white snake hissed.

Not deterred, the white dog clamped down tighter on the snake. Hissing out in pain once more, the snake moved it's head to the back flank of the dog and sank it's fangs down into the dog demon, making it let out a small growl of pain.

Hearing it's comrade's growl of pain, the black dog glanced over to see the white snake had it's fangs sunk deep into the rear flank of the white dog while trying to wrap itself around the dog demon. Clenching it's jaws down tighter on the purple snake, the black dog managed to finally cut through the snake demon's body, making the snake wail out in pain while it's head fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Turning away from the snake, the large black dog demon quickly moved to the white dog and sank it's fangs deeply into the neck of the white snake, forcing it to release it's hold on the white dog completely.

Struggling about, the white snake began coiling it's body around the neck of the black dog, but the dog wouldn't release it's hold on the snake demon. Squeezing tighter, the snake angrily hissed "RELEASE ME!"

Receiving a growl in response while clamping down harder, the black dog continued to stand it's ground and hold onto the snake. Without warning, the purple snake's head struck out at the black dog's shoulder and sank it's fangs deep into the flesh of the dog demon. Instantly, the black dog let out a loud howl of pain, but held firm on his hold on the white snake.

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Watching from a distance, the three hanyous viewed the battle with grim faces. Each watched in shock when the purple snake, thought to be dead, rose up once more and sank it's fangs deeply into the black dog demon's shoulder.

"No, Ryo will be poisoned!" Miroku declared while gritting his teeth. "We have to help him!"

"But how? None of us can transform, other than Rin, into any kind of demon state." Sango asked with a touch of irritation.

Remaining quiet, the transformed half wolf hanyou glanced up at the two large dog demons once more before looking down at her own clawed hands. Sheathing Aiko, Rin quietly said "I have to figure out how to transform into my full wolf state."

Hearing the words of the wolf hanyou, both the half fox demons glanced at her, with the silver one saying "Rin, it's not up to you alone to save them. We'll figure out a way."

Closing her eyes and drowning out the sounds of the others, the half wolf demon calmed her mind and began looking for the power she had found to transform herself into her human like wolf form. Finding it, she began to reach out for it and felt herself slowly beginning to become lost deeper and deeper within it.

"Rin, do you have any…" the half red fox began until he suddenly felt the half wolf demon's demonic aura beginning to flare out.

Shocked at seeing her light blue aura flaring about her body, the half red fox reached out and took hold of his mate. Quickly, he leapt away about ten feet, just in time to escape a light blue cloud that formed around the transformed wolf hanyou.

Gazing at the cloud, the half silver fox mumbled "What is she doing?"

"I think she's trying to figure out how to transform further." her mate answered softly. "She feels it's up to her to win this fight, but it's not."

Before either could add anything else, a large black wolf rose up from the cloud, which had a light blue tint to it's fur and had golden eyes. Releasing a howl, the wolf charged forward towards the battle between the two large snakes and two large dogs.

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Cringing from the pain in his left shoulder, the black dog demon continued to clamp down tightly on the white snake demon's neck while trying to ignore the numbing sensation running up and down his body.

Growling lowly, the purple snake grunted out "Give up fool and release my brother! Make your final moments less painful!"

Letting out his own low growl, the black dog clamped down harder onto the white snake's body, making the snake cry out in more pain while red blood dripped down from the dog's muzzle.

Coiling it's body around the black dog demon, the purple snake began constricting itself, effectively squeezing the large black dog. Releasing it's jaws from the dog demon's shoulder, the snake moved it's head up to above the black dog's head and smoothly said "You will die, either by my poison or by me ripping your own throat out. Your choice in death is your own."

Receiving no response, the purple snake tightened it's hold on the black dog and snarled "If that is your choice, then so be it! DIE!"

Racing forward with it's jaws wide open, the purple snake demon struck out at the neck of the black dog demon, only to strike the white dog demon's left paw instead. A low growl escaped the white dog while it repositioned itself and grasped the head of the purple snake within it's jaws and began to pull the snake away from the black dog.

Finding the purple snake would not release the black dog, the white dog clamped down harder onto the purple snake's head. Acid instantly began dripping down like drool from the white dog's mouth and began burning through the flesh of the purple snake, which howled loudly in pain from the disintegration of it's head.

A few more moments passed till a loud howl filled the air. Casting a quick glance behind himself, the white dog saw a large black wolf bounding towards the battle. Realizing it was the transformed hanyou, the white dog gave a mighty yank on the purple snake, whose grip on the black dog had weakened. With the dog released from it's grip, the purple snake was dragged away towards the black wolf.

Reaching the white dog, the wolf opened her jaws, revealing blue energy forming within her muzzle. Aiming her head down at the struggling snake's body, she shot out a blast of hot searing blue energy. The energy easily disintegrated the snake's body, making it howl out in more pain from the loss of it's body.

Tossing the head of the snake to the side, the white dog opened it's jaws and shot out a stream of acid at the snake, which pooled around the remains of the purple snake, who released an inhuman scream from the pain it felt from the acid disintegrating the remainder of it's body.

Howling loudly, the purple snake cried out "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Staring down at the smoldering remains of the purple snake's body, the white dog demon slammed a paw down onto it and spewed out more acid, eradicating all traces of the purple snake.

Hearing a loud howl, the black wolf and white dog turned to find the white snake's head had been completely severed from it's body while the bloody remains of part of the other end still hung out of the black dog demon's mouth. Dropping the remains, the black dog demon backed away while the white snake demon writhed on the ground in pain and was loudly cursing the black dog.

Opening it's jaws, flames instantly began licking the muzzle of the black dog. Taking a deep breath, the dog spat out a stream of flames at the white snake demon and hit it head on with it's flames, incinerating the entire area surrounding the snake, who released an even louder yell than thought possible.

After incinerating the area where the snake was for a minute, the black dog demon released it's flames. Slowly, the flames receded, revealing a large pile of ashes where the white snake had once lain on the ground.

Panting lightly while slowly turning toward the approaching black wolf and white dog, the black dog demon swayed slightly before falling to the ground on it's side with a large thud. A moment passed before the black dog's body glowed with a blue aura and shrank down to his original humanoid form.

Glowing with their own light blue and red auras, the wolf and dog each shrank back down into their humanoid forms, with the silver haired dog demon showing a wound on his left arm and right hip.

Racing forward to the side of the black haired dog demon that was laying on the ground, the half wolf demon quickly reached him and gently rolled the dog demon onto his back, who cringed at the effort. Seeing his eyes were shut tightly while he was clenching his teeth, the half demon glanced at the wound on his left shoulder, making tears begin filling her eyes.

Looking over her shoulder towards the silver haired dog demon that had limped over to them, the hanyou said with sadness visibly in her voice "Lord Sesshomaru, Ryo has been poisoned. We have to do something!"

"There is nothing any of us can do, Rin." the dog demon stoically commented.

Clenching her fists tightly, the hanyou looked down at the ground and miserably said "We have to do something for him. He won't live if we don't cure him of his poison…"

The silver haired dog demon was about to respond, but stopped when he heard the other two hanyous arrive behind himself. Both rushed past him with each kneeling down at the side of the black haired dog demon.

"Ryo, no, hang in there!" Sango fiercely demanded while taking his right hand into her own clawed one.

Cracking his eyes open to reveal tired blue eyes, the dog demon weakly smiled and said "Sorry, but I can't make it much longer. The poison is slowly getting to me…"

"We won't let you die now!" Miroku firmly replied. "We've all come too far to lose you now, so keep fighting and don't give into the poison."

Weakling chuckling, Ryo shook his head and softly said "No, I think I'm done now. I'm just happy that in the end, the four of you half demons will be free from the mages. Iya and Ichigo both gave it their all during all of these years, yet I never left the confines of my training grounds till when Iya came back with all of you. Seeing the desire each of you had to be freed made me decide to help. I couldn't no longer stand idly by, so I made my choice. I'm just glad that I was of some help in the end."

"Don't delude yourself if you think you are dying, Ryo." a cold voice spoke up, causing all of the hanyous to glance in the direction of the stoic demon lord. "This Sesshomaru did not come this far only to have to drag your corpse back to this Sesshomaru's brother."

Softly chuckling, the black haired dog demon closed his eyes and muttered "Should have known you would kick a man when he's down."

"You will not die." Sesshomaru firmly replied, making the black haired dog demon open his eyes once more.

"Sesshomaru, it's inevitable. I cannot heal myself, nor can any of the others. Can't you get that through that thick head of yours!" the dog mage growled out.

Staring down at the black haired dog demon, the silvered haired dog demon placed a hand onto the hilt of the lower sword on his left hip. "Do not take this Sesshomaru for a fool, Ryo of the Wildfire. This Sesshomaru has the power to revive you with the power of Tenseiga."

Eyes widening a fraction, Ryo bit his lower lip and finally let out a weak chuckle before taking a coughing fit. Recovering from it, he weakly said "I see, so you had no intentions on letting me die."

"You serve the Western Lands well, Ryo of the Wildfire. Why should this Sesshomaru let such a loyal subject die?" the dog demon questioned with no emotion in his voice.

Sighing while closing his eyes and feeling his own breathing slow, the black haired dog demon cracked a feigned smile and muttered "I shouldn't expect so much of you, I suppose. Not like you would ever come out and say you are my friend."

Receiving no answer in return, the dog mage cracked his eyes open and whispered "Figures you'd not answer me."

"Ryo, I think you know that you are important to Lord Sesshomaru." Rin quietly said while placing her clawed hand over his own. "He may not say it, but you know what he means."

Closing his eyes once more while taking a deep breath, Ryo weakly replied "I know…"

Without warning, he began taking a coughing fit. Turning to his side, he spat out a small pool of blood that stained the ground. Wiping his mouth clean, he looked at his hand and closed his eyes once more.

"It's almost time… I can feel it." he whispered.

Staring down at the dog mage, the silver haired dog demon moved a bit closer. "Ryo, you shall not be gone long. This Sesshomaru shall not allow the pallbearer demons to take you."

"Yeah…" Ryo whispered with his eyelids barely open, with seemingly half glazed over eyes. "I know I can count on you to…"

Before finishing his sentence, the dog mage coughed roughly once more before letting his head turn to the side. A gentle breeze blew over the area upon his death, throwing some of his black hair about and lightly covering his face.

"Ryo…" the silver fox hanyou quietly said with tears slipping out from her shimmering eyes. Unable to look at the dead dog demon any longer, she moved to the red fox hanyou chest and sobbed softly into his chest. Gently, the half red fox stroked his mate's hair, allowing her to release all of her grief.

Staring at the black haired dog demon, the half wolf demon felt her own eyes welling up with tears. Letting a few fall, she sniffled softly and looked up at her guardian, whose amber eyes, which were normally unreadable, showed a hint of sadness within them.

"_Lord Sesshomaru, losing Ryo is causing you pain, just like it's causing all of us. I know you don't wish to show it, but I can see it. Like us, it's painful to lose a friend. This is one of those few rare times I've ever seen any sign of emotion displayed by him._"

Glancing at his ward, the silver haired dog demon noted she was looking at his eyes, letting him know that his hint of sadness had been easily detected by her. "_That girl, she has always found a way to look through my defenses. No matter, I must do what I know is right._"

Tightening his grip on the hilt of the sword his right hand rested on, he quietly drew the blade from it's sheath. Bringing it before his body, he stared down at the fallen dog demon and mentally said "_Tenseiga, allow me to see the pallbearer demons_"

Feeling the sword pulsate, he slowly saw the forms of small imp like demons that were attempting to pull the soul of the black haired dog demon out of his dead body. Without hesitation, the demon lord swung his sword at the small imps, easily cutting through them with the silver blade.

A moment passed till finally the black haired dog demon drew a breath. Gradually, he lightly groaned and moved a clawed hand to his head. His eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing unfocused blue orbs for a moment till they adjusted to the light of the daytime once more. Glancing around, he saw the group of hanyous and the lone dog demon with a sword drawn.

"I guess it worked, or Hell is a lot nicer than I thought it would be." he mused.

Stepping away from the black haired dog demon, the silver haired demon lord returned the Tenseiga to it's sheath and silently turned away and proceeded to walk away at his usual slow stride, with a bit of a limp due to his injuries.

Hearing the vanishing footsteps, the black haired dog demon winced while he slowly sat up, causing the wolf hanyou to quickly place a clawed hand on his chest, saying "Ryo, you shouldn't push yourself. You were just revived."

"I know…" Ryo mumbled. Glancing over his shoulder at the retreating silver haired dog demon, he said "Wait Sesshomaru!"

Stopping, the regal dog demon remained still while the dog mage struggled to his feet. Making it at last, the dark haired mage weakly walked towards the demon lord. Turning to face the mage, the dog demon was a touch surprised when the mage bowed to him and in a strained but humble voice, he said "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru, for saving me."

"Hn."

Turning away from the dog mage and limping to where the battlefield had once been, the silver haired dog demon scanned the destroyed area, looking for any signs of the two snake mages that the group had been fighting. Taking in the scents of the area and examining it, the demon lord finally found no presence of the snake mages.

Watching her guardian, Rin let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that the demon lord was seemingly satisfied that the mages were dead. She immediately turned her attention towards the flesh walled structure, eyeing it warily.

"_Kohaku…_" she mentally mumbled. "_I hope that female mage saved you. I… I don't want to lose someone else close to me. I lost my family when I was so young, so losing you, someone who has become close to me, I don't know if I could handle it._"

Clasping her hands close to her chest over her heart, she whispered in her mind "_Please, come back to us alright._"

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After waiting for an hour, the group of hanyous and demons noticed that the structure made of walled flesh began rippling. A moment passed before the flesh slowly vanished, revealing the three that had been locked within it.

Seeing the half fire demon walking out of the area which had been enclosed, the wolf and fox hanyous raced forward, with the wolf making it first and embracing him tightly.

"Kohaku! You're alive!" Rin happily declared with glistening eyes while fiercely embracing the fire hanyou.

Smiling down at her, Kohaku returned the embrace and softly said "Yeah, I'm alive thanks to Lady Tsunade."

"Kohaku, thank goodness." Sango softly said while looking at her brother with eyes that were fighting to hold back tears.

Lightly smiling at his sister, the half fire demon quietly replied "I'm alright sister. I see you all are alright too."

Releasing the fire hanyou, the half wolf demon blushed for a moment before saying "Yeah, Lord Sesshomaru, Ryo, and myself all transformed and managed to kill the two snake mages with some teamwork. It wasn't easy, but we did it."

About to reply, the fire hanyou was cut off when the group began hearing a soft sobbing sound filling the air. Looking back to where the half fire demon had been, they saw the blonde haired female dog demon holding the white haired dog demon's limp body in her arms with tears flowing plentifully down her face and onto the dead mage's.

"Jiraiya, you promised to always watch out for me…" she miserably mumbled while tears continued flowing down from her eyes. "How could you go and leave me like this, now when I need you the most. Why Jiraiya, why now of all times did you leave me!?"

Sobbing even louder, the blonde haired mage held on tightly to the corpse of the white haired mage and buried her head into his white hair. Watching the sobbing woman, the hanyous each felt their hearts going out to the mage.

Looking at the demoness wailing loudly, the black haired dog demon quietly walked up to her side and kneeled down. Doing the only thing he could think to do, he wrapped her into an embrace. Feeling the female mage not resisting, the black haired mage gently began rubbing circles on her back.

"Tsunade, he did it because he wished to do what he thought was the right thing. If not for Jiraiya's noble sacrifice, Kohaku would have died." Ryo softly whispered to the female demon.

Raising her head up and breaking up the embrace, she looked towards Ryo with golden orbs that seemed to hold much pain in them. "You don't understand… Jiraiya, he was with me back when we lived with our clan. He's always been with me, protecting me, and being my friend. How can I go on with my life without him?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the dog mage finally slowly replied "By honoring his memory, and continuing what he began. He set out to stop the other mages before they died for no reason. If you wish to honor all that he is, then continue his work."

Tears slowly began falling back down the female mage's cheeks upon hearing the dog demon's words. "But… I can't do this without Jiraiya."

Breaking down and sobbing even louder than before, she gently laid the white haired mage's body down onto the ground and looked down at him with glassy eyes. More tears erupted from her already red and puffy eyes and fell to the ground while she weakly said "Everyone I have ever loved or cared about is dead. I lost my mate so many years ago due to my inability to fully utilize my healing powers at the time. It was Jiraiya that helped me deal with Don's loss. Eventually I managed to move on with my life and joined The Thirteen. Over time, I took on an apprentice, Sakura. She reminded me of myself when I was young, so I sought to teach her everything I knew, but fate was against her. She died alone for the foolish ambitions of Byakuya, and for that, I can never forgive that wolf demon."

More tears fell when she added "And now, I've lost Jiraiya because he wished to save the life of another. I could have saved him if he had allowed me to continue removing the poison within his body, but he had me save that hanyou instead."

Laying down onto her stomach, the mage sobbed out loudly while smashing the ground with her two fists "I don't understand… It's not fair!"

"Tsunade…" the black haired dog demon mumbled with sad blue eyes looking at the crying female mage. "_If only I could make things right, I would take this pain away from you. No one deserves what you've been through, no one._"

Moving up behind the black haired dog mage, Sesshomaru stoically said "Ryo, we need to seek shelter for the night. Tell the mage if she is coming with us to get ready to leave."

Angered by the words of the demon lord, Ryo fiercely shot a glare at the demon lord and venomously spat out "Can't you see she's grieving for the loss of her friend!? How can you be such a cold hearted bastard to someone who has lost a person they considered family!?"

"Do not raise your voice to this Sesshomaru, mage." the silver haired dog demon tersely remarked. "You will show respect."

Clenching his hands tightly into fists, the black haired dog demon lowly growled and grit out "I may serve the Western Lands and yourself, but do not think for an instant that I will allow you to crush the feelings of this woman. She has suffered greatly, even more than either of the two of us have or probably will. I cannot even begin to comprehend what she has suffered through, but at the same time, I cannot believe you have the gull to show no compassion to someone grieving for the loss of a friend."

"I will not stand idly by and let you talk to her that way, nor allow you to harm her feelings any further! If that means I must receive a punishment, then so be it, but I will not be a heartless monster like you and allow her to suffer as she is!"

Seeing the fierceness and determination within the black haired mage's blue eyes, the demon lord placed a hand onto the hilt of the lower sword in his obi. Wordlessly, he drew the sword out, allowing it to make a sliding sound while the metal slid out of the wooden sheath.

"Step aside."

Lightly growling, Ryo stood to his full height and fiercely snarled out "I won't let you harm her, Sesshomaru! I don't know what you think you're doing, but I won't let you do anything to her."

In a cold voice, Sesshomaru firmly replied "Step aside, Ryo of the Wildfire."

"No!"

"Wait, Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin's voice called out, making the black haired dog demon glance behind the demon lord to see the wolf hanyou racing towards them.

With the mage being distracted, the demon lord vanished in a flash. He quickly reappeared before the body of the dead white haired dog demon. Tenseiga instantly pulsated within his right hand and the small imp like pallbearer demons became visible to the demon lord. Seeing them preparing to take the soul of the fallen dog demon, the demon lord slashed out at them with the fang his father left him, easily cleaving the small imp like demons apart.

Realizing the demon lord had gotten behind him, the dog mage turned quickly to find that the demon lord was simply standing still with his sword out to his side. Slowly, the lord returned the sword to the empty sheath in his obi without a word. Turning away, the silver haired dog demon walked off towards a few nearby trees.

Unsure of what had just happened, the black haired dog demon heard a soft moaning. Returning his gaze to the fallen dog demon, he saw that the chest of the white haired mage was rising and falling slowly. Eyes widening, the black haired mage quickly went to his knees and checked the vitals of the mage, finding they normal.

Hearing sobbing nearby, the white haired mage's eyes gradually opened. Shifting his head to look to his right, he saw the blonde haired female mage was the one he heard sobbing. In a raspy voice, he softly asked "Tsunade, why are you crying?"

Hearing the voice of the white haired mage, she turned with wide eyes and tears still sliding down her cheeks. Realizing the mage was alive, she launched herself off of the ground and to the white haired dog demon's side. She quickly embraced him in a tight embrace, one that caused the sound of bones buckling from her inhuman strength within the white haired mage.

"Jiraiya, is it really you?" she mumbled while tightly embracing the male mage as if he would disappear.

With a light cough, he muttered "Tsunade, could you ease up on that grip…"

Realizing she had been crushing him with her strength, she eased up on her embrace and pulled back lightly to look into his eyes. Black coal eyes met golden ones and he softly said "Yes Tsunade, it's me. I'm back, somehow."

Burying her head into his shoulder while whimpering, she sobbed out "I thought I lost you forever."

"I promised to always watch out for you as long as I could, Tsunade." Jiraiya quietly said while patting her back. "Don't worry, I won't leave you as long as I can help it."

In a mere whisper, she softly said "Ok…"

Pulling her back, the white haired dog mage softly smiled. "Those tears don't suit you, Tsunade."

Irked a bit, the female mage fired back "I just lost my best friend! I'm sorry if I actually allowed myself to cry for you!"

"At least I know you care. Does that mean you'll buy me some sake?" the white haired mage smartly remarked.

Releasing her hold on the mage, the female dog demon clenched her right hand into a tight fist and held it close to her face while growling out "I should sock you for a comment like that…"

"It was a legitimate question."

"If you two are done, I think Lord Sesshomaru is ready to move on." Ryo declared, causing the two squabbling mages to glance up at him with sheepish grins. Returning a smile, he added "It's good to see you're back and alive, Jiraiya."

"Yeah, thanks." Jiraiya replied with a curt nod. Frowning, he asked "By the way, how am I alive? I know Orochimaru's poison killed me…"

Pointing a clawed hand at the retreating figure of the silver haired demon lord, the black haired dog mage calmly said "It was Lord Sesshomaru that revived you with his sword, the Tenseiga. It has the ability to bring any being back to life with one sweep of it's blade."

Absorbing the information the black haired mage had just told him, the white haired mage nodded and mumbled "I see… And I'm guessing he was the one that defeated both of the others."

"Not quite." Ryo countered. "Sesshomaru, along with myself and his ward, Rin, all three transformed into our true demon forms and managed to subdue the two snakes at last. Both are dead."

Glancing at the demon lord's back and the seeing tension in it, along with irritability, the black haired mage added "Now then, we'd better get going before Sesshomaru loses his patience with all of us."

Nodding, both the blond haired and white haired mages stood back up, although the white haired mage wobbled slightly. Immediately, the female mage allowed the dog demon to use her to steady himself.

Sheepishly smiling, Jiraiya softly said "I guess I'm still a bit weak from the poison."

"It'll wear off, trust me." Tsunade remarked. "For now though, we'd better get moving."

Together, the pair of dog mages began walking towards the group, with the black haired dog mage leading them to them. Arriving, the silver haired dog demon turned towards the pair with cold amber eyes.

Pushing off of his partner, the white haired dog demon fell to one knee and bowed his head, in which the female dog demon quickly reciprocated. Humbly, the male mage lowly said "Lord Sesshomaru, I am indebted to you for reviving me. I realize the damage that The Thirteen have caused can never be reversed, but I wish to help try and stop them from making any further mistakes. They are wishing to follow orders of a leader who is simply using them. If you will allow me to serve under you, I pledge that I will correct the mistakes I have helped make against the Western Lands. I also beg that you allow my friend, Tsunade, to help in this. She, like I, was tricked into serving The Thirteen for many years with no idea what Byakuya's true motives were. I ask, no beg for mercy for both of us, please."

Remaining quiet for a moment while staring down at the two dog demons, the stoic demon lord finally spoke up, saying "You shall serve this Sesshomaru from hence forth."

Before either of the mages could say anything, the demon lord coldly added "But know this: if either of you dare to betray this Sesshomaru, you will learn the true meaning of pain and suffering."

Both silently nodded to this, causing Sesshomaru to calmly say "You may rise."

Standing back up, both looked at the silver haired demon lord, with both formally bowing once more before each humbly said "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

Turning away from the group, the demon lord began walking away, saying "We must find shelter for the night and begin our trek back towards the Western Lands in the morning."

The group of hanyous and demons each nodded and fell in line behind the stoic demon lord, who continued pushing onwards towards the northwest.


	55. Chapter 54: Thorned Roses, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, sorry about not getting this chapter done earlier in the week. I was well on my way to doing so, but I got hung up with other things at work, so I didn't get a chance to finish. Still, I finished up now, so good times again.**

**As for real life, things are about as normal as they usually are. I'm still semi-busy at work, but I have 3 weeks to complete my next project, which is more than enough time, I hope, hehe. If not, I'll be in for some long days… At any rate, other than that, I'm happy the elections are finally over. Thank God the people of the U.S. didn't vote with their asses this time and they picked someone who may get something done. Doubtful, but I'll say that much for Obama. I look forward to see what he does do though. Truthfully, I didn't like him or McCain, but the lesser of 2 evils for me was Obama, so whatever. Anyways, other than the elections being over, life is just as busy also. I'm to go to my grandmother's either this tomorrow or Sunday, although that may get cancelled due that my mate may possibly get strep throat, so I will hold off a trip if she does develop it. I can't take something that dangerous up around my grandfather. I just refuse to drag something like that to him and my grandmother. Other than that, in December, my step mom is taking my mate, me, my dad, and step brother on a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN, as a Christmas gift. She is about to sell her father's old house, so she's using her portion of it to take us on a trip. I'm looking forward to it due that it'll get me away from home for a while, plus just let me relax hopefully.**

**Ok, on to more pressing matters, like writing status. Right now, I'm currently spending more time with this story, which is good really, due that I wish to finish, but bad also due that my other story is nearly finished, but stuck as is till I get more on it done. Still, I am going to try and continue to post chapters weekly, if not every other week. I am adamant about continuing that kind of trend with this story and my other, even though I sometimes miss my mark. Before anyone asks, right now, I have a feeling there is at least another ten chapters left, possibly. I think ten is the most I'll have, but maybe not. I'm gauging it between 10-15 more chapters, but we'll see. As for what I'll be doing once I finish, I'm unsure at the moment. I'll keep you all posted on what I decide to do. With any luck, I'm hoping that in January, or before, I'll have this story wrapped up. Not likely, but you never know.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**kattana: Yep, good old fashioned teamwork beat Orochimaru and Ichimaru in the end. Glad you liked that battle. Heh, imagining that fight is always fun. True, Sesshomaru did prove that he had a heart by not only saving Ryo, but Jiraiya as well. Lol, I'm sure anyone would serve Lord Fluffy, hehe. (/Hears growling noise coming from Sesshomaru.\) I mean Lord Sesshomaru, of course. Not that anyone cares, Lord Fluffy. At any rate, I'm glad you didn't think I had forgotten about this story. I was very busy, but I finally got a chance and finished. Now I just need to stay on target with the remainder with this story. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: It's cool about not reviewing. I understand, life happens and keeps us from doing stuff we want to do. Heh, yeah, I know the feeling about reading, but not reviewing due to time constraints. Glad you liked the recent chapters, and yeah, we'll get to the others once more soon enough. Thanks for the review!**

**Ichigo vs. Shiro: Glad you liked the chapter. Yeah, I had to kill off both snake demons due that neither wished to side with Jiraiya and Tsunade. True, Orochimaru deserved death for what he planned to do with Kohaku in the end. Poor Ichimaru just got dragged into the fight and had to go down with him. Heh, glad you didn't mind that both died. Yeah, time to move along, back to the others, perhaps the fight of Kagome, Inuyasha and Orihime against Kurama. True, Byakuya is still out there, but as for Ichigo fighting him in an epic Bankai fight to the death, we'll see. And we'll see about Hichigo's appearance. I still won't say yay or nay to adding him in, but again, we'll see. Sequel!? That's too far away to think about! Lol, seriously, never know about one, but again, there is a bit to finish up on this story first. I do realize that Hichigo (Shiro) plays an intricate part in Bleach, and that he should play an important part within Ichigo's role, but just adding him isn't that easy. Like I constantly say, we'll see if I can add him. If I can, I may, if not, oh well. It is true though that Shiro is very helpful throughout Bleach to Ichigo, which is surprising I suppose. I know, you'll pester me constantly about it, but again, we'll see. Thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: I shall do, and the others are alive, somewhere, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all four of you, for your wonderful reviews. I really appreciated each one of them, and I'm glad you all are sticking this out with me. I will continue to try and post chapters on a regular basis, but like I always keep saying, I'm not sure how well that will work out. Still, I will try my best. Also, thank you FlyingMoonAngel for adding my story to your favorites. I greatly appreciate it.**

**Anyways guys, I'm done for now, so I hope all of you have a great weekend. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 54**

Glancing behind himself, the fox mage saw the distant figures of the two silver and black haired dog hanyous and the orange-brown haired bobcat demon. Sighing to himself, he glanced ahead to the forest before him once more.

"I ran all night with them in pursuit, and half the day is gone today, yet they continue to pursue me. While I was away, they must have trained my slave rather well for her to keep up this kind of speed." the fox mage mumbled to himself while casting a small glance behind himself once more.

Looking back ahead, he continued forward through the forest, knowing the three pursuers would continue to give chase.

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"Damn it, no matter what, we can't get close to him." Inuyasha grit out. "Whenever we speed up, that damn fox matches our speed, and then just to piss us off, he slows down when we slow down!"

Glancing up at the fox demon before them, Orihime calmly said "Calm down Inuyasha. We'll catch up to him in time. He's playing out a strategy is all."

"He's being a coward." the silver haired hanyou pointedly replied. "If I could just get close enough to release the Wind Scar, this chase would be over."

"That's the problem though Inuyasha." the bobcat mage remarked with a sigh. "We've discussed this before, and have come to the conclusion that he will never allow you to get that close. If he did, he'd then put on more speed to avoid your attack while you had to try and catch back up."

Growling lowly, the silver haired half demon cursed under his breath and glanced at the black haired hanyou beside of himself. She was keeping her honey colored eyes trained ahead on red headed fox mage while twitching her ears for any sounds that could warn them of danger.

Clenching his clawed hands into fists, Inuyasha mentally mumbled "_Kagome, I promise, we will find a way to stop him and kill him. No matter what, I won't lose you to that mage. You're my mate, and I swear on my life, I will save you._"

"This mage is one of the smarter of the group." the bobcat mage chimed in, making the former miko and silver haired hanyou glanced glance towards her. "I heard stories about him being a master tactician in battle strategy. If I had to guess, right now, he's employing a strategy, which I'm sure he is."

"Would that be the strategy of running away like a coward?" the male hanyou grunt out with irritation in his voice.

Sighing, the female mage shook her head and replied "No, it's not, Inuyasha. He is wearing us down, because he knows that none of us can keep running after him forever."

"Feh, I could keep running like this for another day or two before I need to stop."

Casting her gray eyes towards the male half demon, the bobcat demon replied "That may be true, but Kagome can't. That's why he hasn't allowed us to catch up with him. He's trying to wear her down, then once she's tired, he's probably figuring one or both of us will stop with her. He can then continue to run and get away."

"If that's his strategy, then we need to stop him." Kagome spoke up for the first time in several hours.

Nodding in reply, the female mage replied "That's the plan. I think I can get him slowed enough so that we can fight him. Inuyasha, I'll need you help in doing so though."

"Just tell me what you need me to do." the male hanyou remarked while casting his eyes at the female hanyou for a moment before returning them to the forest before them.

Eyeing the two half demons, the female mage nodded and said "Here is what we need to do…"

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Casting a glance behind himself, the red headed mage noted that the two hanyous seemed to be breaking off pursuit while the female bobcat mage continued to give chase to him. Smiling to himself, he glanced back ahead, but kept glancing back to make sure the mage didn't close the gap between them.

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Realizing the fox mage had seen that Kagome and Inuyasha had split off from her, Orihime softly smiled to herself. "_Good, he thinks it's just me and him._"

"Tsubaki, I summon you." she mumbled lowly.

Instantly, one of the branches in her snow flake hair pin on her left side glowed to life and shot a beam of orange energy out. From the energy appeared a small brown haired fairy wearing a black jumpsuit with a red stripe on it.

"You called Orihime?" he gruffly asked with his arms folded while floating next to her head.

Nodding lightly, she replied "I need you to stop the demon we're chasing."

Casting a bit of a glare at the female mage, the male fairy asked "Are you aiming to kill him?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the female mage finally let out a ragged sigh and slowly said "At the moment, no. I need to get him to stop running, and in doing that, I need your help."

"You are so weak, I swear! It's a wonder any of us are alive, especially you!" Tsubaki snarled while turning away from the bobcat mage.

Releasing another sigh, the female mage softly remarked "I know… But now isn't the time to argue. I need you to help me. Will you?"

"I don't have much choice, now do I!?" the little fairy growled.

"I just need you to keep him from running any farther, that's all. It's a simple job."

Rolling his eyes, the fairy heatedly replied "Easy you say. When haven't I heard that one from you?"

"Just get ready." Orihime grit out with a bit of irritation in her voice.

Nodding, the fairy returned his attention towards the fox mage that was a bit ahead of the pair along with the bobcat mage. Speeding up, the female mage noted the fox mage appeared ready to increase his speed once more.

Crying out in a loud voice, the bobcat mage yelled "NOW TSUBAKI! Koten Zanshun! I reject, I reject!"

Transforming into an arrow like structure, the brown haired fairy glowed with a bright orange aura and went racing forward towards the fox mage.

Sensing the approach of the fairy, the mage came to a stop and threw his body to the left of the oncoming attack, easily missing the fairy. Before he could begin running again, the fairy began zigzagging before him, cutting through trees while doing so and sending them crashing to the ground.

"Adamant Barrage!" a new voice loudly yelled from the left side of the fox mage, who gasped in shock when thousands of shards of adamant came flying in his direction.

With only a moment to spare, the mage flew into the air, avoiding all of the shards of diamond, but a few managed to pierce through his black robes, leaving small gaping holes within it. Flying back down to the ground, the fox mage landed gracefully and saw that both the male and female dog hanyous were now effectively boxing him in with the aid of the bobcat mage.

Glancing from one to another, the red haired mage softly smirked and mumbled "It only figures the three of you would outsmart me."

"No more running you bastard!" Inuyasha growled out while brandishing a diamond covered Tetsusaiga at the mage. A moment passed and the sword reverted to it's normal grey blade.

In a calm and respectful voice, Orihime softly said "Mage Kurama, I implore you, please surrender. There is no need for unnecessary bloodshed. You can't beat the three of us."

Closing his emerald eyes for a moment, the fox demon softly chuckled and slowly reopened his eyes to look at each of the group with a cold look. "How foolish for you to think I will surrender. It is you three who should surrender."

"Like hell we will!" the male hanyou growled out.

Casting his emerald eyes onto the female hanyou, Kurama slowly said "Lady Kagome, I make you this one and only offer. Tell your friends to stand down, and I shall let them live. I am not an unreasonable demon, unlike many of my comrades. I prefer not to fight, and like Lady Orihime prefers, to have unnecessary bloodshed. I have seen much in my days, but I make it a point to not fight if not absolutely unavoidable."

"Still, when I seek something that I desire, I will fight for it. Do not mistake me for the others of The Thirteen. I treat my slaves with kindness and respect. In fact, the ones I pick for my slaves are picked not due to availability, but to more of my liking in many aspects. You, yourself Kagome, fulfill all of those aspects. I was seeking a human with compassion, understanding, intelligence, beauty, and grace. You have all of those qualifications. That is why I make you this one offer to have your friends leave now before I must harm or even kill them."

Staring into the female half dog demon's honey eyes, the fox demon added "I leave that choice up to you. Please, do what you know is right in your heart and tell your friends to leave so that I am not forced to harm or kill them."

"Kagome, don't listen to that bas…"

Interrupting the male half demon, the former miko turned towards the half demon and coldly growled out "Inuyasha."

A bit hurt and taken back by his mate's words, the male hanyou softly said "Kagome, don't let him trick you into doing something you don't want to! We'll make it! I swear to you, we will defeat him!"

Closing her honey colored eyes, the female hanyou took a deep breath and let out a ragged sigh before slowly reopening her eyes. Looking at the fox mage, she calmly said "Mage Kurama, your offer is tempting, but no. I will never abandon my friends, nor the man I love. I realize you have no desire for bloodshed, but I will not idly standby while you continue to commit atrocities against other humans. One day, you'll tire of me, and then you'll take another human and make them into a half demon. Though I appreciate becoming one, at the same time, I cannot allow such a thing to happen to another person. That's why with the help of Orihime and Inuyasha, I'm going to take you down. I advise you to surrender peacefully, so we can take you to the Western Lands to be put on trial for your crimes."

Sighing heavily, the fox demon shook his head and took a few steps backwards. "I see, so you have made your choice. I have no choice then but to kill your two friends and then take you with me till my spell solidifies. I am truly sorry for what you are going to have to witness."

Reaching for the cords of his robes, he loosed them and shrugged the black set of heavy robes off of his body, revealing a long yellow tunic that flowed down to his lower calves that was open on the sides, but was tied at his waist by a single black obi belt. Beneath the tunic laid a white pair of pants and kimono top that covered his arms and legs completely. On his feet were a pair of simple black shoes, and in his obi belt was a small satchel.

Reaching behind his ear, the mage pulled something from there and held it in his open palm, revealing to the three it was a seed. A small bit of green demonic aura flared up within his palm, causing the seed to transform instantly into a red rose. The rose glowed after a moment with the same green demonic aura, further transforming into a long whip with numerous thorns sticking out of it.

"If you won't listen to reason, then I shall have to do what I must." the red headed mage mumbled while readying his whip.

Moving a hand to Hikari, Kagome drew her sword out, sparking it's transformation instantly into the large halberd with a pink ring of fur for a guard. Bringing it before herself and taking up an offensive position like Inuyasha had repeatedly taught her, she fiercely said "I wouldn't count on doing anything Kurama. We're going to beat you here today."

"Unlikely." the fox demon remarked with his emerald eyes staring at her.

Both the hanyous edged themselves closer towards the red haired mage, who only glanced between the two of them and the female mage to his right. After a minute finally, he leapt into the air and unleashed his whip in the direction of the bobcat demon.

Holding her arms out, she cried out "Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon, come out! Sōten Kisshun!"

Glowing to life with an orange aura, both of the female bobcat's snowflake hair pins shot out three beams of orange energy, which instantly took the form of three fairies. The three fairies quickly spread out into a triangular formation and shot a beam between one another. The beams all connected and they poured out even more energy to form a triangular shaped barrier before the female mage.

The sharp whip struck the barrier for only a moment before the fox mage retracted it. With barely visible movements, he threw a glowing green seed straight at the feet of the female bobcat mage, whose eyes widened a fraction when the seed landed.

In a low, cold voice, Kurama silkily said "Janen-Ju."

Sprouting up out of the ground and growing at a tremendously fast rate while encircling the bobcat mage into itself was a tree that grew in height to eight feet while it's diameter became four feet. The tree allowed for the female mage's face to be seen, along with her upper chest, but the remainder of her body was encircled.

Before the bobcat could say a word, her eyes glazed over into a dull gray color and she fell backwards into the tree, looking seemingly dead.

Racing to the tree, but being mindful to not get too close, the female hanyou called out "Orihime, hang in there! I'll get you out!"

"Kagome, don't touch it!" the male hanyou instructed while moving to her side. Glancing at the tree and then to the female mage, he muttered "I haven't seen this tree in ages."

Casting a fierce glare at the red haired mage, Kagome snarled out "What have you done to Orihime! Let her go!"

Allowing a small smile to grace his lips, the fox demon softly replied "She is in no danger, for now, at the least. I just called out a powerful tree. You, Inuyasha, have heard of this tree."

"Inuyasha?" the female half dog demon remarked while turning her honey colored eyes towards the male half dog demon.

Staring at the tree before him, the male hanyou let out a small raged sigh and replied "It's a tree known as Tree of Thought Manipulation. This tree is extremely rare, but also extremely dangerous. It has the power to trap someone within itself and force them to experience reoccurring visions of a person's doubts and fears. Also, to keep itself alive, the tree drains the energy of the person it's keeping in this state, allowing it to grow as well. Eventually, it will kill the person it is holding and sprout seeds, then send the seeds elsewhere."

"Orihime…" Kagome whispered while staring at the face of the female mage. Looking into it, she saw the mage was seemingly restless at the moment, confirming Inuyasha's claims about the effects of the tree.

Not willing to stand idly any longer, the female hanyou swung Hikari to her side and readied herself for a swing. As she swung her sword at the top of the tree, above the female mage's head, the whip of the fox demon suddenly wrapped around her sword, keeping her from completing her swing.

Angrily, she turned towards the mage and snarled out "Let go!"

"You're wasting your time with her. You should be more concerned with me." Kurama silkily remarked while holding tightly onto his whip.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha raced forward and slashed out at the fox mage with Tetsusaiga. With a graceful movement, the mage released his whip's hold on Kagome's Hikari, allowing him to back away slightly from the charging male hanyou. Smirking while sliding backwards, the fox mage retracted his whip to his left arm.

In a soft voice, the fox mage said "Fu-Ka-Enbu-Jin."

About to respond, the hanyou began to say something until a heavy scent of rose hit his sensitive nose. Confused, the half demon pushed his concern over the scent out of his mind and continued forward, only to find a ring of rose petals encircling the fox demon.

"Feh, no flowers will stop me!" the hanyou gruffly remarked while continuing forward.

Smirking still, the fox mage came to a stop and remained still. Taking the opportunity that had presented itself, the male hanyou began to swing his sword at the fox demon, only to find himself in a cloud of rose petals. Without warning, the blood began spraying from multiple wounds on the half demon's body, with numerous cuts appearing in his clothing.

Screaming out from the sudden pain, the male half demon leapt backwards about ten feet, leaving himself enough room he hoped from any attacks. Looking at his right hand, he found bloody scratches across it, along with numerous ones all over his body and many rips in his clothing.

"What the hell…" he softly questioned aloud to himself before furiously looking up at the fox demon, who stood completely still with the rose petals still circling him and a smirk on his face. Pointing Tetsusaiga straight at the mage, he angrily said "You bastard, you'll pay for that!"

"Is that so?" Kurama questioned with a smirk still plastered on his face. "I would like to say your threat was taken seriously, but that would be a pure lie. After all, a lowly half demon like yourself could never get past my Rose Circle Waltz Formation."

Bristling with anger from the comment the mage just made, Inuyasha growled lowly while gripping the hilt of Tetsusaiga tightly. Calling forth the power of his sword, the half demon picked up the scent of the racing wind encircling his sword. Bringing the sword to his right side, he swung it heavily at the mage, screaming "Take this! Wind Scar!"

Racing forward from the blade of the halberd upon it being swung was a white blazing claw shaped blast of demonic energy. Watching the incoming attack, the mage softly chuckled and whispered "You'll never learn."

Raising his right hand to before his face with only his index and middle finger sticking up in the air, the mage's demonic aura flowed out. Without warning, the red flower petals began spinning around the mage in a sphere like shape while a red energy barrier appeared. The white demonic energy instantly went racing up onto the barrier and began racing circles around it while the energy began to take on a reddish tint.

Pointing at the male hanyou, the red haired mage coldly said "Die by your own attack."

Flying off of the barrier and racing back towards the male half dog demon, the red tinted blast of demonic energy began cutting into the ground while racing forward.

Eyeing the incoming attack, the silver haired half demon smirked and dug his sword into the ground. "I had a feeling you'd do that. Watch this!" he declared while pulling the sheath on his left hip out from his obi and placed it horizontally before his body.

Continuing to race forward, the blast of white demonic energy slammed into the area where the male hanyou stood, only to slam into an invisible wall and flow around the half demon at the point where he held the sheath out from his body. The ground surrounding him was instantly destroyed, sending dust and debris flying into the air and hiding his position. Gradually, the dust settled, revealing the silver haired hanyou was unharmed and wearing a triumphant smirk on his face.

"How did you survive that blast? Last time we fought, you took it head on and were badly injured by it." Kurama questioned with an emotionless voice.

Lightly chuckling while replacing the black wooden sheath in his obi, Inuyasha cockily said "You're not the only one with a barrier, Kurama. The sheath that goes to my Tetsusaiga has a powerful barrier that can obviously stave off even the power of my own sword. I figured you'd reflect my attack, so I was prepared this time to block it."

Digesting the half demon's words, the mage slightly smirked and replied "I see, very strategic for you. It's surprising that a half breed like you could come up with such a plan."

"I still haven't figured you mages out yet." the male hanyou mumbled while drawing his sword out of the ground, causing it's transformation to flare once more into the halberd. "All of you have called myself and my older brother worthless half breeds, yet, here we are with you fighting to take Kagome away from me. If half breeds are so worthless, why is it so important that you have half demon slaves!?"

Without warning, fox mage flung his whip straight at the half dog demon's head. Raising his halberd sword at the last moment, the male hanyou allowed the whip to wrap around the sword, effectively stopping the attack.

Staring at the male half demon for a moment, he softly smirked and cast his eyes on the female hanyou who was attempting to cut into the tree that the female bobcat demon was lodged in. The male half demon instantly realized that the mage was looking at the female half demon, who was paying either one a bit of attention.

Extending his right hand towards the female hanyou, the mage directed the rose petals floating around himself in her direction. The rose petals quickly raced across the open area towards the female half demon, who still had her back to the battle.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha yelled "Kagome, get out of the way!"

Hearing her mate's words, the female half dog demon turned to find a swarm of rose petals coming straight for her. Raising her sword before herself, the female hanyou readied herself for the attack, but a small bit of fear shone in her eyes.

Seeing his mate was in trouble, the silver haired hanyou released his hold on his sword, allowing it to fall harmlessly to the ground and revert to it's dull rusty blade form. Racing towards Kagome, Inuyasha placed his clawed hands into one of his open wounds, allowing them to become covered in blood. Leaping into the air, he swung his claws in the direction of the stream of rose petals, yelling "Blades of Blood!"

Numerous blades of crimson energy erupted from the claws of the silver haired half demon and went flying into the stream of rose petals. Bit by bit, the blades cut through the stream, stopping it effectively from reaching the black haired hanyou, who only gasped in surprise.

Landing before Kagome, Inuyasha growled out "Leave Kagome out of this! This fight is between the two of us!"

"Inuyasha, no, I'm a part of this fight also." Kagome argued.

Glancing behind himself, the male hanyou sharply said "Kagome, stay out of this fight and let me handle this."

"Inuyasha, I need to do this." she fiercely remarked. Letting out a small ragged sigh, she moved forward and placed a clawed hand onto his shoulder and said "You can't protect me forever. I know you worry about me getting hurt, but I do the same for you. Believe in me when I say that I need to do this. You've protected me for the last five years. It's time I finally started giving it my all and helped out more. I've always been in the back of the fight, being the one that all of you have tried to protect from harm."

Casting a quick glance at the female mage behind herself, the female half demon returned her vision to before herself and added "But it's time I started fighting by your side. So please, let me help in this fight."

Pondering on the words of the female half demon, the male hanyou began to answer when the red haired mage casually said "Yes, fight and prove that my choice was right. I want you to prove yourself to me. Otherwise, your friend there will die for nothing."

Letting out a low warning growl, the female hanyou dangerously hissed "You will release Orihime before this battle is over! Don't even think for a moment you can beat the two of us."

"A weak human turned half demon and a half dog demon who has obviously no skills, that shouldn't be too much work." Kurama calmly boasted. Yanking on his whip, he jerked the rusty sword that his whip was still attached to it off of the ground, flinging it instantly into the air. In the air, the sword began spinning end over end before coming crashing towards the ground, with the blade burying itself into the ground.

Reaching forward, the mage attempted to grip the hilt of the sword, only to receive a shock when his hand came in contact with the hilt. Pulling his hand back to look at it, he frowned and mumbled "So, your sword has a barrier. Interesting."

"Not as interesting as it'll be when you're laying on the ground dead." Inuyasha spat back.

In a low voice, the male hanyou whispered to the female hanyou "I'll go in and distract him so I can retrieve Tetsusaiga. While I do that, launch an attack also, alright?"

Receiving a low grunt as confirmation, the male hanyou nodded and leapt high into the air and dipped his claws once more in an open wound of his. Swinging his bloody claws at the mage, he yelled out "Blades of Blood!"

Crescent shaped blades of crimson energy instantly went flying towards the red headed fox mage, who only stared emotionlessly at the oncoming attack. Holding his right hand up before his face with his index and middle finger extended, he summoned forth the rose petals that were encircling him to form the red barrier once more. The numerous blades struck the barrier, only to become entrapped within it and begin swirling along the outside of it.

"Damn it…" Inuyasha lightly cursed while watching the blades float around the barrier.

"Purifying Arrow!"

Glancing down and to his left, the half dog demon saw that the blade of his mate's sword was glowing with a bright pink aura. Taking aim, the female half dog demon swung her sword in a side slash, sending a glowing pink arrow of miko energy straight at the mage.

Eyeing the incoming attack, the mage quickly sank down to one knee and slammed his right hand onto the ground with his palm against it. Green energy instantly glowed around his hand, and before him rose a thick tree that was five feet in diameter. The arrow struck the tree, blowing a chunk of three feet out of it upon impact.

Raising his right hand to before his face once more, the mage stared at the tree before him and released the numerous blades of crimson energy, which had taken on a bit of a pinkish color, at the tree. The blades quickly sliced through the remainder of the tree trunk and burst through towards the female half dog demon who stared at them with a bit of shock.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha screamed while landing back on the ground. Upon touching down, he began racing towards his mate. "_Damn it, I'll never make it before that attack hits her!_"

Watching the incoming attack, the female half demon dug her sword into the ground. Gripping the hilt tightly, she began to glow with a light pink aura, along with the blade of Hikari. Immediately, a pink barrier formed before her, seemingly protecting her. The numerous blades slammed into the barrier, which shimmered upon contact with each and every blade.

Gritting her teeth, the female half demon felt her barrier beginning to buckle a bit, so she adjusted her demonic aura to a lower output and shot out more miko energy into Hikari, which caused the barrier to instantly strengthen. The barrage of blades finally subsided, allowing her to release the barrier and adjust her twin powers to their normal state once more.

Frowning at the sight of the female half demon seemingly unharmed, the fox mage calmly remarked "I see, you've been training yourself to use both your miko and demonic powers. That is good, seeing how I won't have to worry so much about it when I take you as my slave."

"I wouldn't count on it!" Kagome snapped back with fury reflecting in her golden eyes. "I'll die before I allow you to take me as a slave."

"You will change your mind, I assure you." Kurama smoothly remarked.

Growling lightly, the female half demon began to move forward, but heard the male hanyou move up to beside her and place a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy Kagome. He's just trying to rattle your cage."

Taking a calming breath, the female hanyou sighed and nodded. Cracking a feigned smile, she mumbled "This is a change. Usually it's me telling you something like that."

"Feh."

Still smiling lightly, the female hanyou returned attention to the fox demon along with the male hanyou. Noting the fox demon was smirking, she asked "What's so amusing?"

"The two of you, thinking that you still stand a chance against me." the fox mage remarked while running his right hand through his red hair. "Why half demons think they are superior to full demons still puzzles me."

Lightly chuckling to himself, Inuyasha calmly replied "For a group of bastards like you and your brethren, you sure are a cocky lot. I'd think by now all of you would learn not to underestimate half demons, and their true potential."

"That's right, after all, us worthless half demons have taken down and become enemies far stronger than anyone thought possible." Kagome added. "Naraku for example, a powerful half demon, in the end was destroyed by Inuyasha and myself. Iya is another example, for he has taken out five of you mages, while a single quarter demon, Ichigo, took out another mage."

Glancing at the direction the pair had come from with the female mage, the female half demon returned her vision to the fox mage and said "And, I'd be willing to bet both have taken out Kenshin and saved Lilly. That means you will soon be facing more opposition. Plus, I know my friends are more than capable of taking down the other mages also. So say what you want about half demons being inferior, but we'll just prove you wrong."

Staring at the pair of half demons, the fox mage remained calm and challengingly said "Then come and prove how strong you are. I will not kill you, my slave, but I will not allow you and this rogue half breed to defy me."

"Gladly." Inuyasha answered while crackling his claws. Moving next to him, Kagome readied Hikari for another attack, with both seemingly ready to begin the fight once more.


	56. Chapter 55: Thorned Roses, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Sorry for not getting this out last week. I thought I would, but I got busy once more, so I didn't finish the chapter like I wanted to. Plus, I've begun playing Kingdom Hearts II for a second time. Heh, I decided to play Proud Mode, which I must admit, is incredibly more difficult than I originally thought. In the first pass through last year, I died maybe a handful of times. This time around, I have constantly died, at least more than ten or fifteen, which is irritating and frustrating. Still, I like the game a lot, so I'm trying to play some on it, when I find time between work, writing, reading, and other things I do in life. Other than that, life is just busy like always. I have a deadline coming up on the 1****st**** of December, in which the project I've been working on is due. I have it almost done, but I've got a weird problem popping up, meaning I'll have to carry this over into next week. Joy… Other than that, life is just busy with me going up to see my grandparents still, plus home life, and whatever else happens.**

**At any rate, writing wise, I'm trying to work on this story more often, but there are so many hours a day, and so much insanity that I can take, so I unfortunately don't get to write as often as I like. Plus, I have some work left to do on my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** to do. Still, I am working hard to try and get chapters out for this story. Just remain patient with me, please. Thanks.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks. True, I do seem to take the powerful allies of the group out of the equation from battle quite often. I hadn't noticed. More than likely, the real reason is the mages are wise enough to realize that those two mages are stronger than the rest of the group, plus are more battle hardened, thus presenting a true challenge. Don't forget, the mages are full of themselves and believe they, like many demons, are far superior to a group of half demons. Of course, that has been most of their downfalls, but that's what they get for underestimating strong willed and determined half demons. Thanks for the review!**

**That was short, lol. I just got the one review, so oh well. Thanks CJ for it nonetheless. I really appreciated it. At any rate, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 55**

"Pathetic that you could not avenge your mate, quarter breed." the red headed mage with a cross shaped scar remarked.

Eyes widening, the orange haired quarter demon weakly coughed, spitting up a pool of blood onto the ground. Sticking out his chest was the end of the mage's sword with blood staining it's silver blade. Blood was dripping to the ground from the tip of the blade while more blood was running down along the blade also.

Pulling his sword out, the mage sneered at the quarter breed as he dropped to the ground unceremoniously with a thud. His eyes were already glazing over while he was whimpering from the pain.

Staring at the sight, Orihime roughly shook her head, screaming "Ichigo, get up! You can't die! Please, don't die!"

Her words had no effect on either the mage or the quarter breed, for neither could hear her at all, much like the other visions she had been shown thus far. Each set of visions had been far more cruel than the one previously, with each ending with her heart shattering to pieces at the sight of each.

With tears streaming down her face, she cried out "Please, stop it… I don't want to see Ichigo hurt anymore. Please, just stop…"

Upon her finishing her words, the images before her blurred once more and a new set appeared, this time of the quarter breed, looking like he was recovering from wounds, standing with female half demon that had cat ears on her head with a black tail sticking out from behind her. She had short black hair that reached her shoulder blades in length, violet eyes, and cream colored skin.

The pair was standing on a cliff, hand in hand, looking out at the sun that was slowly sinking below the horizon. A slight breeze was rustling their clothing and their hair. Looking closely at Ichigo, Orihime realized that his eyes were misty, as if he was on the verge of crying.

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks within an instant. "_That has to be Rukia, his former mate. He told me about how the two had parted, and this looks like how it was._"

"No, please, don't show me this. I beg you, please…" she whimpered out, only to realize the images were still in motion.

Unable to turn away, she watched as the quarter bobcat drew his sword from it's sheath and uttered the word "Zangetsu." In a flash, the sword transformed into it's cleaver blade form, reflecting the remaining rays of sunshine in it's metal.

Watching him draw back the sword while aiming it at his mate, Orihime heard him say "Rukia… I love you with all my heart and soul. I swear to you, I will kill Kenshin!"

With his words said, the smaller woman nodded slightly. A pained expression crossed his face as he plunged the sword then into his mate's chest, making the weaker woman gasp out in shock from the blow.

In a mere whisper, Rukia said "I love you Ichigo. Never forget that. Thank you for the life you shared with me."

Upon finishing her words, her eyes fluttered shut for one final time. The quarter bobcat pulled his sword free from the half neko demon and let it fall to the ground with a loud clang. Orihime spotted tears flowing freely down the quarter bobcat's cheeks while he held the tiny body of his former mate close to his chest. She felt her heart break once more when she heard him scream out in agony.

"Please… please, no more. Please…" she whimpered while tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

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Picking up the scent of salt, Kagome glanced over her shoulder to see the source of it was the trapped female mage within the tree that had her surrounded. "_What could that tree be showing you to make you cry, Orihime?_" she questioned in her mind.

Returning her full attention to the red haired fox mage across from herself, she lightly growled and charged forward, along with Inuyasha. The pair zigzagged back and forth till finally the pair split up into separate directions.

Sending her miko energy into the blade of Hikari, she felt the sword pulsate and begin glowing with a pink aura. Swinging it wide, she screamed out "Purifying Arrow!"

From the sweeping motion, an arrow of pink miko energy formed and went racing forward towards the red haired fox demon, who stood his ground. Crouching to the ground, he slammed his right palm to the earth. Instantly, his palm glowed with a green aura, causing a thick tree trunk shot out of the ground before his body once more.

The pink arrow hit the log square on, destroying a good portion of it and leaving a smoldering heap in it's wake. Before the mage could react, he heard footsteps coming towards him from behind the log.

"Blades of Blood!"

Eyes widening a fraction, the mage saw crimson crescent moon shaped blades come exploding through the remains of the tree he had grown to defend himself from the miko turned hanyou. With the log fading away, the image of the red clothed hanyou appeared from behind it's remains.

Calming himself, the red haired mage raised his right hand to before his face like he had many times before, calling forth the red barrier while the rose petals danced within it. The numerous blades slammed hard into the barrier, but were instantly ensnared within it and began moving across it rapidly while taking on a bit of a light red tint.

Pointing at the male half demon with his right hand, the fox mage calmly said "Die."

Sliding off of the barrier and back towards the male hanyou, the blades of crimson energy with a light red tint accelerated towards the half demon, who only stood his ground and smirked. At the last moment, he threw himself to his right side and raced towards the rusty old sword that was before the mage.

Watching the half demon approaching him, the mage cracked his whip and sent it flying at the hanyou. The whip struck the half demon in the shoulder, tearing easily through his red clothing and into his skin. Blood instantly trickled from the wound, but the half demon only grit his teeth while pushing the pain to the back of his mind. Continuing to race forward, he felt the whip strike him once again on the back, tearing his clothing again and leaving a bloody trail where the whip had made contact.

Finally reaching the rusty blade, the hanyou took hold of it, sparking it's transformation into a large halberd instantly. Spinning around, the hanyou took an offensive stance and readied himself for an attack on the fox demon.

Concentrating on the blade before him, the male hanyou felt the sword pulsate for a moment before it began to turn a crimson color. Upon the blade fully becoming crimson, it glowed with a brilliant red color. Drawing the blade back, the hanyou cried out "Wind Scar!"

Swinging his sword downwards towards the fox mage, the half dog demon flung a blast of white demonic energy from his crimson blade at the mage, which took the shape of a claw like the previous blasts he had shot out.

Eyeing the oncoming attack, the fox mage sank to his knees and dropped his whip. Pressing both hands to the ground, he poured green energy into each hand. Immediately, a wall of several thick tree trunks formed before his body, concealing his location completely from the incoming attack. The blast of demonic energy slammed into the wall of trees, tearing a few layers apart before coming to rest at last with only two walls left before the mage.

Leaping to the top of the wall of trees he had created, the fox mage looked down from the wall at the regrouping hanyous, with the male lightly growling with irritation. In a smooth tone, Kurama smartly said "I'm sure you're curious how I knew not to allow your attack to hit my barrier."

Receiving silence in return, the mage coolly remarked "As you might well be aware of, The Thirteen met with Naraku a few months before his death. In this meeting, discussions about an alliance were one of many topics. Once we had agreed upon one, Naraku kindly told of his enemies and their powers. He mentioned your sword, half breed, and of it's many different abilities."

"First, he told us of it's normal form having a powerful attack that could slay a hundred demons in a single sweep. Then there was the crimson colored form that your sword takes, which has the ability to slice through almost any barrier, which is what you attempted to attack me with just a few moments ago. Next, he mentioned the diamond covered blade that could pierce through almost anything. The final form he spoke of was a dragon scaled blade, which could cut through the aura of any demon and instantly kill them. He made mention of all of your groups abilities, but of the group, we found you and your sword to be most likely the most dangerous."

"Keh, should I be honored or something?" Inuyasha grunted out indignantly. Brandishing the now silver blade of Tetsusaiga at the fox demon, he added "Just because you know of my sword's powers doesn't mean squat."

Lightly chuckling, the mage slightly smiled and replied "But you are wrong, half breed. Thanks to the information Naraku gave us, I was able to devise a strategy that neutralizes that sword of yours. As you saw earlier, my barrier allows me to take your own attack and reflect it back at you. Should you try to use your crimson blade, I must merely block it's attack with trees. As for your diamond blade, that is much more difficult to stop, thus I must simply avoid it. And that dragon scaled blade if useless to you unless you can get close. Even your companion, my future slave, hasn't the power to get through my defenses. Her miko powers have no effect on plants, thus she cannot hit me either."

Eyeing the mage carefully, the male hanyou growled lowly within his mind. "_Damn it, now what!? He knows all of the powers of Tetsusaiga, with exception of the last one I received from Sesshomaru, the __Meidō Zangetsuha, which Naraku didn't get to see till our last battle. Still, using it may not be the best course of action at the moment. It's my trump card, so I should save it, for now._"

Flicking a quick glance at the female hanyou next to himself, he mentally mumbled "_Whatever it takes, I'll save you Kagome._"

"I must admit, the two of you have surprised me with your attacks." Kurama remarked in an emotionless voice, instantly drawing Inuyasha out of his thoughts. "But the truth is, neither of you can get past my defenses. After all, to start with, you have to deal with my Rose Whip. Should you get past that and try a frontal assault, my Rose Circle Waltz Formation will cut you to ribbons. If you're foolish enough to attack me with a long range attack, I can either call forth my barrier or use my plant powers to build a defensive wall. Face it, my defenses are impenetrable."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Kagome finally spoke up, calmly saying "Every defense has a weak point though. You may claim to have defenses that can't be broken, but we will break through, and once we do, you'll pay for what you've done to Orihime."

Lightly chuckling, the red haired mage ran a hand through his hair. "That foolish mage should have joined us long ago. It's a pity she had to suffer such a terrible ordeal like she is. That tree is slowly reducing her mind into nothing by showing her greatest fears and nightmares in a never ending cycle in her mind. Should she somehow survive, her spirit will be broken and her soul shattered. She will never recover from such an ordeal."

"No…" the female hanyou whispered lowly. Glancing back at the bobcat mage's face, she felt tears threatening to begin falling.

Noting his mate's attention was focused on the female mage, the male hanyou softly placed a hand on her shoulder, making the female half demon spin her head back around to look at the male hanyou. "Kagome, we can still save her, but first we got to take down Kurama."

Returning her full attention to the mage before the pair, the female hanyou nodded meekly and quietly said "Yeah…"

Closing her eyes for a moment, the female hanyou took a deep breath and calmed herself. "_I'll be no help if I can't control my emotions. I have to remember the training I received from the others and make sure it gets put to good use. We will stop Kurama and save Orihime. Just hang on, please Orihime._"

Opening her eyes once more, the female hanyou settled her honey colored eyes on the red haired mage. Hardening them, she launched herself forward towards the mage at full stride.

"KAGOME, NO!"

Ignoring the protests of her mate, the female hanyou continued racing forward towards the mage, who looked on with an amused expression. Within ten feet of the mage, the hanyou called forth her demonic aura, sending it flaring up the blade of her sword and turning the blade purple. Clutching the hilt of her sword tightly, swung it downwards, crying out "Makenkosappo!"

Flying forward from the impact of where the blade had hit the ground was a tight purple beam of spiraling demonic energy. The blast flew straight towards the mage, who remained calm and raised his right hand before his face like before.

"You should know better, my slave." he mumbled while a red barrier, along with the rose petals, formed around his body.

The blast slammed heavily into the barrier, causing a small indention. Frowning at this, the mage poured more power into his barrier, allowing it to push the blast back a bit. Gradually, the blast began to slide up onto the red barrier and slowly circle it.

Undeterred by the loss of her attack, the female hanyou's blade lost it's purple glow to only take on a pink one. Swinging her blade once more, she yelled "Purifying Arrow!"

Flying out of her blade at a high rate of speed, a pink arrow propelled itself towards the red haired mage, whose eyes widened a fraction at the oncoming attack. Realizing he still had the demonic blast within his barrier, he attempted to send it at the incoming arrow, only to not get it launched off of the barrier in time. The pink arrow slammed heavily into the barrier, making it begin to buckle from the extreme power of the miko energy purifying it.

Realizing he couldn't defeat the arrow, the mage growled lightly and leapt for safety as his barrier shattered, allowing the captured blast of purple energy to explode, taking with it the numerous rose petals that were floating about.

Watching the mage intently while he landed twenty feet away, the female hanyou panted lightly while keeping her grip on Hikari tight. Twitching her ears, she heard her mate move up beside of her.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Inuyasha asked with concern in his voice.

Nodding mutely, the female hanyou kept her gaze locked on the mage that was turning towards the pair of hanyous.

Staring at the pair of half demons, Kurama calmly said "Very impressive, Kagome. I see you have learned to control not only your miko powers in your half demon form, but your demonic powers as well. It is interesting to see that you can switch between the two powers so easily. I look forward to watching you battle others in the future."

Lowering Hikari till the tip of it's blade barely touched the ground, Kagome took a deep breath and stared at the mage with a fierce look. With a sharp tongue, she fiercely replied "You still just don't get it. All of you mages are the same, regardless of what you say. None of you understand anything about us."

"To you, humans are weak, but pleasing to have once a month. You think that humans are nothing but frail creatures and it may be true, but what we lack in strength, we lack in mental strength and in heart. I was once told that humans are the more arrogant and greedy than any other creature within this world, and that maybe true, but humans have something that demons don't."

Letting the tip of her blade rest on the ground, the female hanyou brought one hand up to her chest and clutched held it tightly against it, saying "All humans, when they have something they wish to protect, they find the power that is needed to protect what is precious to them. You may have made me into a half demon, but I still have a half of me that is still human, meaning I too have the power I need to do what I wish. My friends, family, and the man I love, all of them, they are what I hold precious to my heart, and I will protect them with my life. I will die before I allow you to harm them, or to ever harm another person. If you think I'll let you get away with the atrocities that you've committed and wish for me to one day commit as a slave to you, you're wrong!"

Remaining quiet for a few moments, the fox mage released a small sigh. "I see, so you have no desire to willingly be by my side."

Looking directly into the female hanyou's honey colored eyes with his own cold emerald ones, he firmly added "I understand then, I can no longer hold back against you and that other half breed. I had hoped that you would come around to my way of thinking, but I see now, like all half breeds, you share sentiment to the ones you love and wish to remain with them instead of accepting your destiny. Very well then, I shall fight you with all of my strength."

Glowing with a light red aura, the red headed fox demon's hair began floating in the air along with his clothing while he dropped his whip. Slowly, his aura became brighter and brighter, till finally the pair of hanyous could no longer watch the figure before them.

After a minute, the aura slowly died down, allowing the pair to glance back at the fox mage, only to find that the mage they had known was gone. Standing in the place of the red headed mage now stood a tall silver fox demon with long butt length silver hair, a pair of silver fox ears a top his head, cream colored and flawless skin, a long silver tail that hovered just above the ground, and a pair of cold golden eyes. His attire was a white sleeveless long flowing tunic with white pants, a white obi, and a pair of white slip on shoes.

"What happened to him, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked in a hushed voice.

Eyeing the mage, the male hanyou rolled the question around in his mind. At long last, Inuyasha replied "From what I remember, Iya told us that Kurama was a half red and half silver fox demon. That must mean the form we were fighting before was his red fox form, and now he's transformed into his silver fox form."

"Bravo to you, half breed." Kurama spoke up in an icy tone. "It seems you were attentive at the least when your mongrel brother informed you of what type of demon I am. I suppose you're curious how my heritage came to be, but allow me to give you the very short version since I have little patience for such questions. My mother was a weakling red fox demon, while my father was the leader of a powerful silver fox demon clan. For some reason, my weakling father fell in love with her charm and mated with her, thus giving birth to myself."

Giving a cold look at the pair, he added "Don't take me for being weak though. Although I have red fox demon blood in my veins, I am nothing like them. My power derives from the silver fox side of my heritage, not that foolish, pathetic excuse for my red fox side."

Staring at the cold amber eyes of the mage with her own kind honey ones, Kagome quietly asked "Why do you hate your mother's parentage so much?"

"I have no reason to explain myself to you, slave!" Kurama icily replied.

Brandishing his silver blade towards the mage, Inuyasha snarled out "Enough talk! If you want to try and take Kagome away, then you'll have to face me! I won't let you have her!"

Quietly chuckling while running a clawed hand through his silver hair, the mage calmly said "You are an amusing one, half breed. If you thought I was a difficult opponent before, just wait till you face me in this form. You'll wish my slave had accepted my offer from before when you're begging for death, only to not achieve that sweet release."

Racing forward with Tetsusaiga pulled to his right side, the male hanyou called out "Feh, I've heard that time and time again, so spare me!"

Remaining perfectly still, the silver haired mage watched the half dog demon racing towards him with no emotions playing upon his face. In a blur, he quickly reached down and retrieved his whip and leapt out of the way of the attacking half demon. Spinning around, he flipped his whip out at the hanyou, making contact with his back and causing a loud hiss of pain to erupt from the silver haired half demon while leaving a long bloody streak on his back.

Coming to a complete stop, the male hanyou quickly turned around and leapt into the air after the silver haired fox. Smirking at this, the fox icily said "I must give you this, your tenacity is impressive, but a waste of time."

Reaching up to the top of his head with his right hand, he seemingly plucked something from behind his right ear. Closing his hand for a moment while holding his hand out before his body, the mage closed his golden eyes for a second. Instantly, glowing green energy began encircling his right hand. With little warning, he opened his hand, allowing what was in his hand to be revealed.

"_A seed!? What is that bastard up to this time!?_" Inuyasha growled within his mind while still flying towards the mage. "_Doesn't matter, I'll kill him either way!_"

Suddenly, the glowing green seed that was within the mage's hand grew at a rapid speed, taking the form of a wooden broad sword. Without a trace of hesitation, the mage clashed his wooden blade with the male hanyou's, with each pushing on one another till they pushed off one another to fall to the ground.

"A sword made of wood!? That little piece of wood won't stop my Tetsusaiga!" Inuyasha growled out while charging towards the silver haired fox with his sword out to his side.

Remaining still, the fox mage said nothing while readying his wooden sword within his right hand. The male hanyou soon reached him and slashed out at him with the mighty halberd, only for the mage to parry one handed with his own sword. The two blades clashed against one another, but like before, the wooden sword did not break or split.

Infuriated a bit, the male hanyou pulled his massive fang back and swung again at the mage, only to once again be parried. Again and again, the pair's blades clashed together, with neither getting the advantage. The pair finally split apart at long last after five minutes, with the male hanyou digging his sword's blade into the ground before himself and falling to one knee while lightly panting.

"Do you concede yet, half breed?" Kurama flatly asked.

Growling lowly, Inuyasha grit out "Why you…"

"I'm sure you're curious to why my sword is seemingly unharmed." the silver haired mage remarked, effectively cutting off the male hanyou. Holding the blade before himself and displaying it had no damage, he added "This sword is made up of a special wood that my ancestors found long ago. It has been passed down for generations to each of the clan leaders of my family's clan. The wood is much harder than anything you have ever seen and acts like a normal blade would in repelling another sword. In essence, it is like any other sword, except made of wood."

Lightly growling at this, the male hanyou was about to harshly reply when he suddenly felt a calming hand on his shoulder. Glancing to his right, he saw the female hanyou stood right beside of him.

"Inuyasha, don't get so worked up over him." Kagome quietly chided. "He wants you to lose your focus and become open for an attack. Don't give that to him."

About to reply with a harsh comeback, the male hanyou stopped himself and took a deep breath before letting out a small sigh. Returning his gaze to the silver haired fox demon, he quietly mumbled "You're right. Thanks."

Lightly smiling at her mate, the female hanyou returned her attention to the silver haired fox demon before the pair. Gripping Hikari a little tighter, she threw it to her side and raced forward with her mate racing beside of her at the mage.

Splitting apart, the two zigzagged back and forth towards the mage, who remained calm and composed while tracking the two darting figures. Reaching the mage, the male hanyou struck out at him with his large halberd, only to be parried instead. Seeing her opportunity, the female hanyou moved in towards the mage with her sword readied for an attack.

Flicking a glance at the female hanyou, the mage quickly flipped his thorn covered whip at the incoming target. Eyes widening when she realized she couldn't avoid or deflect it, the female hanyou shifted her body so that the whip would strike her shoulder instead of her side. Feeling a rush of pain as the whip easily tore through her kimono top and down into her skin, she let out a small yelp and quickly leapt away to safety.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled with concern filling his voice.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." the cold voice of Kurama announced.

Before the male hanyou could react, the blade of Tetsusaiga was pushed back and the mage slashed out at the hanyou with his wooden sword. The blade cut through the kimono top easily and went straight down to his skin. A spray of blood instantly filled the air while the hanyou fell backwards onto the ground with blood already seeping through his clothing from his new wound.

Eyes widening a fraction while standing quickly, Kagome screamed "INUYASHA!"

Hearing his name, the hanyou winced at the pain flowing through his body, namely around his chest. Weakly, he slowly sat back up onto his knees, but instantly felt a fresh wave of pain flow through his body. Pushing it aside in his mind, he gradually made it up to his feet, only to feel the presence of his mate move to beside of him in a crouching stance.

"Inuyasha, take it easy." she softly commanded while running her one free clawed hand over his wound carefully. After examining it for a moment, she softly said "It's not too bad, but you should rest up a bit."

"No… I have to…" the male hanyou panted out, only to have a single finger move across his lips to hush him.

In a soft tone, the female hanyou replied "It's alright, Inuyasha, you've done enough. Leave him to me."

Rapidly shaking his head, the silver haired hanyou firmly said "No Kagome! He's too much for you alone!"

"I can take care of myself, Inuyasha. Don't worry, I can do this." the black haired hanyou calmly replied.

Before he could say anything else, the thorn covered whip of the fox mage came flying in at the silver haired hanyou's head. Seeing it coming, the female hanyou moved her sword before her mate's head, effectively blocking the whip.

Retracting his whip, the mage gave a cool smile and icily said "Impressive that you managed to block my attack. Perhaps I've given too little credit to whoever trained you to use your new form."

Standing herself back up to full length, the female hanyou brought her blade before herself and pointed at the mage that was ten feet away. "You will pay for harming my mate." Kagome icily remarked.

"So, you're mates." Kurama stated. Remaining quiet for a moment, he let out a small sigh, saying "I see. Claiming you as my slave is no longer a viable solution. Since that half breed has rutted within you, you are now tainted and defiled. I could never lay with such a wretched creature."

"Being with you didn't thrill me either." Kagome venomously retorted. "Regardless, I will never be yours. My heart has belonged to Inuyasha for a long time, and no matter what you would have done or said would never have changed my mind. He chose to be with me and asked me to be his mate, and I chose to accept because I love him with all my heart and soul. Say what you want about me, but when you insult my mate, know that I will make you pay for it! He is my mate and I will protect him with all that I am!"

Staring at the female hanyou in the face, the fox mage mumbled "Ridiculous. You half breeds and your sentimentality will be your down fall."

"And you inability to accept the truth will be your own." the female hanyou retorted.

Without warning, the whip of the mage's went flying towards the female half demon's head, but she quickly raised her sword, allowing the whip to merely wrap around the top of the blade. Not deterred, the mage held tension on the whip and began pulling it back towards himself, forcing the hanyou to start sliding towards him. She instantly dug in her heels and used all of her strength to stop her sliding, but quickly found the mage was still trying to pull her towards himself.

"_I can't let him unarm me, no matter what! Without Hikari, I'd run the risk of transforming into my full demon form, and if what Totosai said was correct, I could accidentally purify myself, if not become unstoppable and possibly harm Inuyasha. I'll just have to not let go, no matter what._"

Jerking Hikari back towards herself, the female hanyou attempted to knock the mage off balance, but the mage had his feet firmly planted, allowing him to keep his balance. Pulling on the whip once more, he grabbed hold of another section of it, forcing the half demon to grudgingly move closer towards himself.

"Just give in, half breed, and accept your fate." Kurama icily remarked. "You will die here today by my hands. Both you and your mate will not survive this battle, so just surrender yourself to the destiny that has been chosen for you."

Lightly grunting from straining against the strength of the fox mage, Kagome snarled out "I will never surrender to the likes of you!"

Concentrating on Hikari's blade, the female hanyou began sending out a wave of purifying energy into the halberd, causing it to glow with a light pink aura. Watching this, the mage only lightly chuckled at the actions of the hanyou.

"You must surely be desperate to try and purify my whip." the fox mage smartly quipped.

Ignoring him, the female half dog demon began pouring more energy into the blade, making it glow a brighter shade of pink. Without warning, the pink energy shot into the vine and ran up through it towards a surprised mage.

Before the wave could hit him, he released the vine and leapt away from the hanyou, who lightly growled in frustration that the mage had let go. Swinging her sword, she flung the vine off and cast a glare at the mage while starting to lightly pant as her blade returned to it's normal dull gray color and she allowed it to rest on the ground once more.

Lightly smirking, the fox mage sharply said "Interesting, you used my Rose Whip as a conduit to send your miko energy to me. Very impressive, but it appears doing so cost you quite a bit of that precious energy that you need to defeat me. What a shame."

Receiving a light growl for his comment from the hanyou, the mage's smirk vanished as he suddenly stabbed his sword into the ground. Dropping to his knees quickly, he pressed both of his palms to the ground, causing green energy to suddenly erupt from them. Flying out from the ground without warning a few feet before him was a series of sharp tip bamboo shoots. Growing at an alarming rate, the shoots rapidly flew straight at the female hanyou.

Raising her sword, the female hanyou let out a light growl and pulled her sword back to her right side. The blade pulsed for a moment before the gray coloring of the sword faded into a dark purple color. Swinging the sword with all her might, the hanyou yelled out "Makenkosappo!"

Flying from the purple blade immediately was a spiraling blast of purple demonic energy that went racing forward towards the shoots of bamboo. The two struck one another, with the purple blast sending a spray of wood into the air while slicing onwards. This continued for a moment till the bamboo suddenly expanded to avoid the blast for the most part, allowing it to continue it's advance towards the surprised female hanyou.

Shocked, the hanyou took to the air in an attempt to escape, but the shoots followed her up into it in close pursuit. Spinning around to face the shoots, the hanyou began swinging her sword at them, only to soon get swallowed up by them with a loud scream of agony to follow.

"KAGOME!"


	57. Chapter 56: Thorned Roses, Pt 3

**Hey gang! So, Thanksgiving is over and all, meaning the next stop on the holiday rush list is Christmas. Thanksgiving was alright for me. I went to four dinners over the course of the week, with last Monday being my step mom's family, Thursday being my dad's family, Friday my mom's family, and finally Sunday my mate's family. Luckily, my mom didn't serve turkey, so I wasn't completely full of turkey. I don't mind it, but I'm not super crazy over it either. Regardless, it was nice to see my family members, although I disliked some news about my step mom's side. Feh, more like over the one female idiot. I'll save my rant on how dumb she is for what she's up to for another time. Otherwise, I had a nice time with all my family members.**

**Writing wise, I'm finally getting some time to work on it this story, along with my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Things on this story are moving along nicely, and with any luck, and I sincerely mean this, I should have this story wrapped up by the end of February, I hope. That is a bit of a stretch I think, but I could be right. Eh, that's my estimate at the moment due that there are more than likely at least 10-15 chapters left, rounding this story out about 65-70 chapters total. Not bad for my first Inuyasha fic, I suppose. Heh, it's still longer than all of my Yugioh stories, hehe. I seem to have trouble keeping stories small, but that's just my problem I suppose. However, the next story I write, I will have much longer chapters, like taking two of these chapters and making them one, so that I can keep the number down. I have no problem with long stories, but it is kind of intimidating now that I think about it when you're a reader and see something with 50 some chapters. At any rate, that's future stuff.**

**Moving along, it's time once again for reviews!**

**Kattana: Yeah, the mages are a bit funny in their ideals. Like you said, they think a human turned half demon should want to become their slave and not fight them, yet they call half demons worthless and humans weak. Still, they use half demons for their own pleasures and use as they see fit. So confusing, lol. Very true, most fox demons are a bit tricky, with Kurama seemingly extremely so. He does hate his parentage, mostly his mother's side, due that she was the weaker half of him. Yeah, hopefully they'll win the fight and save Orihime, who may have troubles of her own if she is mentally unstable after being in that tree. It's cool about renaming stuff, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: Lol, yeah, Kurama needs his butt kicked. LOL! Perhaps I should write more than hang out on MySpace, hehe. I only do it in the morning though, and not usually on the weekends. Sounds more like a job, lol. At any rate, thanks for the review!**

**Ichigo vs. Shiro: That sucks about the reviews being busted. I got the PM, so no worries about it. Sorry about taking so long to post, but I usually keep things together within a two week limit, which sucks. I hate having to split my time between this story and my other. If I had finished the other story, this one would be flying, but instead I have to divide my time between the two, which isn't fair for both stories. Oh well, gotta just make due with what time I have. Thanks for the compliments on my story. Heh, yeah, I tried not to spend too much time on Orihime's visions. Lol, yeah, Kurama can piss a person off, but that's his objective after all. Yes, Kurama is from Yu Yu Hakusho for anyone who didn't know, although he isn't a half red, half silver fox there, but that's for another time to explain. Heh, yeah, demons think humans are frail and weak, but that's the way it is. Lol, nice that you'll fight him in hollow form, but I think he could take you. He'd just plant you, hehe. Hmm, an arrancar, eh? Eh, never know. Lol, true, vampires burst into flames in the sunlight, not sparkle. It's cool about the PM again. I'll explain it in another PM, sometime, when I get a chance. Thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's it for my reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for those. I really appreciated all three of them. I'm glad to see I seem to be keeping this story on track thus far from what I can tell, which is a relief. At any rate, thank you all again for your reviews.**

**For now, I will continue to post every week or two, at least till I can finish off my other story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Once I finish it, I can focus on this story solely again, which means most likely a post every week more than likely. We'll see though. My other story though, well, I'm unsure how much longer it will take. Not too much longer I think, but remain patient with me, please. I will finish this story, without a doubt.**

**At any rate, thank you, everyone, and I look forward to reading the reviews. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 56**

Staring with his eyes full of shock, the male hanyou forced himself back to his feet. Pain instantly erupted over his chest, but he quickly pushed it aside.

"_This pain is nothing! I have to get to Kagome, and fast!_"

On his feet at last, he quickly moved towards where the bamboo had crashed into his mate. At last making it to where the bamboo was suspended, he noted that blood was lightly dripping down from the shoots.

"Hang on Kagome, I'll cut you out." he yelled out and readied his sword.

Hearing a light chuckle, Inuyasha softly growled when he saw that the mage was slowly approaching him and wearing a smirk.

Pointing at the bamboo shoots, Kurama coolly said "You're too late, half breed. My bamboo has skewered your pathetic mate. She is no longer in this world."

Lightly growling and casting an angered look at the mage, the male hanyou's grip on his sword tightened till his knuckles were white. "You bastard… How dare you harm Kagome!"

"She was foolish enough to mate with you, half bred." the fox mage pointed out. "It is your fault that she died. Had she not succumb to you, she would still be alive and by my side right now."

Lowering his head till his eyes were hidden below the shadow of his bangs, the male hanyou became silent. Seeing this, the mage pushed onwards, silkily saying "You didn't really expect her to honestly love you, now did you? You, a lowly half breed, have nothing to offer her, while I could have offered her a life in which she would never have to worry about anything ever again. She would have lived in comfort for all of her …"

"Shut up…" the male hanyou growled out in a gruff voice.

Staring at the hanyou, the mage frowned for a moment when he began sensing the demonic aura of the half demon seemingly growing. Looking his body over, the mage noted that the half demon's aura was beginning to turn into a dark red color, with his hair and clothing slightly rustling.

"You mages think you're so far superior to everyone, yet you don't get it at all." Inuyasha growled out with his eyes still hidden. "You just don't understand that not everyone wants to join your little club. That not everyone wishes to be your slave!"

Raising his head to reveal jagged purple stripes on his cheeks, along with crimson red corneas with blue-green irises and elongated fangs poking out of his mouth, Inuyasha snarled out "You talk of half demons being garbage, yet you mages wish to acquire them as slaves! If you hate half breeds so much, why take a human and turn them into one!? Answer me, you bastard!"

"You wouldn't understand, half breed." Kurama icily remarked. "Nothing I say will make sense to you now that you're transformed."

"I wouldn't count on it!" Inuyasha roared while racing forwards with Tetsusaiga held to his right side.

Leaping into the air, the mage landed on top of a section of the bamboo shoots that bobbed when he touched down onto it. Before he could turn to face the half demon, the silver haired half demon appeared behind him and swung his sword at him. Eyes widening a fraction, the mage took to the air just as the blade of the hanyou's sword sliced through the spot where he had stood.

Quickly spinning his body around to watch the incoming half demon, the mage barely had time to parry an incoming attack, which flung him backwards from the striking of the pair's blades. Hitting the ground, the mage only had a second to quickly move just as the hanyou's sword slammed into the ground where the mage had just been standing.

"_That hanyou, he's faster than before! How is it possible!?_" the mage pondered while parrying another attack the half demon launched at him.

"What's the matter mage, having trouble!?" the hanyou growled out while grinding his blade against the wooden sword, which was beginning to splinter a bit from the sheer pressure being placed on it.

Feeling himself being pushed backwards a bit, the mage attempted to plant his feet firmly, only to feel himself beginning to slide.

"A half breed like you shouldn't have this kind of power!? Where are you getting it!?" Kurama demanded.

Sneering at the mage, Inuyasha firmly replied "When a demon's, or half demon's in this case, mate is hurt or dead, a demon will avenge their mate with all of their strength. Normally, I never transform anymore thanks to sealing power of the Tetsusaiga."

"But Tetsusaiga feels my demon blood's urge to avenge Kagome, thus it is allowing me to take control of my demon blood and give me the power to finish you off!"

Being pushed backwards a few more feet, the mage growled with frustration at the sheer power that the hanyou was revealing. Wincing from the pain his wrists were beginning to feel from the strain the half demon was placing on himself, the mage pushed away, sending himself flying backwards.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!" the red clothed hanyou roared.

Quickly moving as the hanyou came swinging in at his head, the silver haired mage spun around and quickly dropped to his knees. Slamming both palms to the ground, the mage poured out a great amount of green energy into the ground. Immediately, thick vines with sharp thorns began encircling the hanyou, who let out a frustrated roar while attempting to slash them away with his sword. Upon struggling, the thorns in the vines dug into the half demon's skin, causing blood to begin seeping out immediately. Continuing to struggle, the hanyou attempted to pull away, only to have the vines continue growing up his body. They soon became wrapped around him completely, keeping him immobilized.

Squeezing the hanyou's right wrist that held the large halberd, the thorns on the vines began digging in, making the half demon wince from it, but he refused to release his hold. Finally, feeling his body beginning to weaken, the hanyou released his hold, allowing the sword to fall to the ground with a loud clang before reverting back to it's rusty form. Angered beyond belief, the hanyou continued to struggled, only to have the thorns dig deeper into his skin and have more blood begin to seep out. Realizing it was useless, he finally stopped struggling while casting a fierce and angered glare at the mage.

Slow to stand, the mage pulled himself back up to full length while grabbing his wooden sword as well. "Well, well, looks like you've been effectively contained half breed. Even your half breed brother couldn't break those vines with brute strength. And since you just lost your sword, I would say you can't free yourself."

"When I get free, you're going to pay!" Inuyasha angrily spat.

Smirking, the mage replied "Unlikely. After all, you're at my mercy now."

Plucking a seed from behind his right ear, the mage took hold of it and poured green energy into it, causing it to sprout into a rose. The rose glowed with a green aura once move, transforming it into a thorn covered whip. Directing a hand at the hanyou, the mage twirled it, causing the vines to react to his silent command. Slowly, the vines turned the hanyou around so his back faced the mage.

"You have been rather bothersome, half breed. For that, I shall take great pleasure in prolonging your death." Kurama icily remarked while readying his whip.

"Feh, don't do me any favors, cause once I get free, you're dead!"

Sneering at the hanyou's back, the mage drew back the whip and flicked it at the tied down hanyou. A stripe was instantly cut into the half demon's back while his red kimono top was torn completely through to his skin where blood slowly seeped out from the lash mark. It took all of his internal strength, along with sinking his fangs into his lip, for the hanyou to keep from yelping from the pain he had received.

Darkly chuckling, the mage smartly said "I'll cleave you apart, slowly but surely, half breed. You'll be begging for death soon enough."

"I wouldn't count on it." Inuyasha muttered.

Sneering at the hanyou's back, the mage drew back his whip and struck the half demon's back once more, leaving yet another bloody slash, but received no verbal yelp. Again and again, the fox demon struck the half demon, who managed to continue keeping from screaming out. Finally satisfied, the mage sent out a wave of demonic energy into his whip, shrinking it back into it's harmless rose form and then into it's seed form. Tucking the seed away, he picked up his discarded wooden sword and moved before the half demon once more.

Looking at the half demon's face, the mage saw blood dripping down from his lip where he had sunk his fangs in to keep from yelling out in pain. "Ah, so you were being brave and not giving me an agonized scream. How intriguing that you can withstand such pain."

Lowly growling while casting his angered blue-green eyes at the mage, the hanyou let out a small snarl, saying "You'd better hope that I don't get free, because if I do…"

"You'll still die." Kurama flatly remarked while positioning his sword into a striking position before himself. "It is time I ended your miserable life. Farewell."

Watching the incoming wooden sword at his body, the hanyou closed his blue-green eyes and mentally mumbled "_I'm sorry Kagome... I failed you._"

Just as he was sure he was about to feel the wooden sword pierce through his chest, he heard a loud clang, making the male hanyou snap his eyes open to see a large halberd with a pink fur ring guard blocking the wooden sword from his chest. Taking in the image of the person holding the sword, the hanyou gasped in surprise.

"Kagome…" he muttered in complete shock.

Struggling to hold the wooden sword back, Kagome thrust all of her power forth and flung the mage backwards, sending him skidding away about twenty feet. Panting lightly, she took up a position before her mate and turned her sword towards the mage while casting a fierce glare at him.

Staring at the female hanyou, Kurama softly asked "How, might I ask, did you survive that attack I made on you?"

Panting lightly while blood seeped from her numerous wounds, Kagome smirked and smartly replied "You should have checked your target a lot better, Kurama."

"When you attacked me, I took to the air, thinking I could escape that attack, but I had a backup plan. While in the air, I was already concentrating on bringing forth my miko powers to form a barrier. Immediately, I realized your attack had followed me, so I began calling forth my barrier. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to bring it out, allowing the bamboo shoots to pierce my body slightly. They dug in about an inch or so, but not deeply enough to pierce any organs, unluckily for you. Once they had gotten that far in, my barrier flared to life, which was just barely an inch above my skin, so it managed to cut away all the bamboo. Of course, I was still wrapped up in the bamboo, so I couldn't escape, plus the shear fact your bamboo had pierced me forced me to black out. I only awoke a minute ago and realized my mate was in trouble, so I stepped in, just in time it appears."

"So it seems." Kurama murmured. "I should have realized a powerful half breed like yourself wouldn't have died so easily."

Nodding in reply, Kagome glanced behind herself at Inuyasha. Seeing he was still somewhat in shock, she stepped backwards and whispered "Inuyasha, are you in control, or have you lost yourself to your demonic side?"

"Feh, like I'd let my demon blood control me." the hanyou quipped with a sour look.

Lightly smiling, she stepped back a few more steps and slashed out at the vines with Hikari. The vines easily fell apart upon being struck by the sharp blade, allowing the male hanyou to drop to the ground. Gingerly, he reached down and retrieved Tetsusaiga, sparking it's transformation instantly upon picking it back up.

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, the male hanyou pointed the tip of the blade at the fox mage, brashly saying "I told you, once I got free, you'd be dead."

"So you did, but yet I live. I think you can't stop me, alone, half breed." the mage smugly remarked.

"Not alone, right Inuyasha?" Kagome piped up while standing beside of her mate.

Glancing over at her, he nodded and returned his full attention to the mage. "You tried to not only kill my friends, but attempted to steal the woman I love and have claimed as my own. For that, I will show you no mercy."

"Mercy is for the weak, like you, half breed." Kurama flatly remarked while readying himself for an attack.

In a low whisper, the male hanyou softly asked "Kagome, are you ready to finish this?"

"Yeah…"

"Then let's end this."

Nodding lightly, the female hanyou charged forward, alongside of the male hanyou, each with their swords to either side of them. Hikari instantly pulsated with power for a moment, causing the blade to begin glowing with a bright pink color. Seeing this, the male hanyou broke off from alongside of his mate and moved onwards towards the mage at a different path.

Waiting for the right moment, Kagome finally reached it and swung her sword hard, crying out loudly "Purifying Arrow!"

Flying onwards towards the fox mage was an arrow of bright pink energy. Smirking at it, he began to move when he suddenly heard a male voice cry out "WIND SCAR!"

Blazing in from the mage's right side instantly was a blast of white demonic energy running forward in a claw shape. Realizing the two blasts had him pinned, he quickly took to the air, evading both blasts.

"Oh no you don't!" the female hanyou yelled while her blade's color changed once more, this time to a purplish color. Swinging her sword hard as she could, she cried out "Makenkosappo!"

Instantly a tight spiraling beam of purple energy went racing forward from the blade of Hikari and began moving towards the airborne mage. Realizing the attack was coming, the mage struck out at the incoming blast with his sword. The blast was staved off for a few moments by the sword, till suddenly it began creaking and the wood could be seen splintering. Releasing his sword and falling away from it, the mage watched without a word as the blast incinerated his wooden sword within a moment.

Landing on the ground and watching the remains of his sword vanish, the fox demon clenched both of his clawed hands into tight fists. Turning towards the female hanyou, his lip raised as he snarled out "YOU BITCH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

Racing forward at near blinding speed, he moved towards the female hanyou, who watched in a bit of shock. Realizing his mate was in danger, the male hanyou moved towards her, only to realize one thing.

"_I'll never make it!_"

Feeling a spike of fear run up her back, the female hanyou took a step backwards while barely watching the fox demon coming towards herself. "_I have to think of something, fast!_"

"KAGOME, GET DOWN!"

Realizing it was Inuyasha's command, the female hanyou quickly threw herself to the ground, while hearing her mate yell "ADAMENT BARRAGE!"

Hearing the words of the male hanyou, the fox demon quickly altered course, allowing him to escape the hundreds of diamond shards that were racing over top of the female hanyou. Retreating to a safe distance of twenty feet, the mage glared at the two hanyous, as the male hanyou helped the female back to her feet.

"Miserable half breeds, the two of you shall pay for destroying my inheritance!" Kurama snarled.

Returning a fierce look each at the mage, the two hanyous stood and readied themselves for the next round of fighting. Watching this, the fox mage plucked two seeds from his hair and held them in his hands, which glowed with a green glow. Two roses appeared within his hands, which quickly transformed once more into two vine whips with numerous thorns on them.

Quickly racing towards the two surprised hanyous, the mage gracefully took to the air and flicked his right whip at the female hanyou, only to have the male half demon block his attack with his sword. Growling to himself, the mage retracted the whip while sending his other whip flying forward at the head of the male hanyou. This time, the whip was blocked by the female hanyou's sword, making the fox mage growl lowly to himself once again before landing on the ground and backing away to a distance of fifteen feet.

Dropping both whips, the mage fell to his knees and slammed both open palms to the ground and began pouring out green energy into it. Immediately, the ground began rumbling as hundreds of sharp bamboo shoots began sprouting underneath of the two hanyous, who quickly took flight and attempted to escape them. The shoots instantly took to the air after the pair, which quickly moved out of the way of the shoots and landed on the ground once more, each apart from one another.

Before they could do anything else, shoots of bamboo erupted from the ground once more, forcing the pair to take to the air again. In the air, more shoots came out of the ground, and the ones that they had previously escaped came racing towards them. Eyes widening, both hanyous noted that they were effectively surrounded.

"Damn, he's trying to box us in!" Inuyasha grunted out with irritation.

Drawing back Tetsusaiga, he called forth the sword's diamond form. Swinging it horizontally, he cried out "Adamant Barrage!"

Hundreds of sharp shards of diamonds instantly sprang forth from the blade's sweeping path and began slicing their way through the thick grove of bamboo and opening a path for the pair of hanyous. Seeing the pair head for the hole created, the mage poured out more power and filled in the hole with even more bamboo shoots.

Growling in frustration, Inuyasha drew back Tetsusaiga and swung it downwards at the wall of bamboo, screaming out "Wind Scar!"

Flying forward immediately was a blaze of white demonic energy in a claw shape. The blast ripped through the bamboo easily with the hanyous following behind it to safety. Landing on the ground, the pair turned to face the demon mage, only to discover he was sending out more power and causing more bamboo to rise up from the ground.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" the male hanyou yelled angrily. Putting the Tetsusaiga before his body, the sword instantly began to pulsate within his hands while the blade turned a pitch black color.

Realizing what her mate was up to, the female hanyou nodded and drew Hikari before her body also. The sword pulsated for a moment before beginning to glow a color of pink and purple mixed together.

Seeing that the two hanyous seemed to be readying themselves for an attack, the mage sneered while sending out more green energy and smugly said "Die, half breeds!"

Feeling Tetsusaiga pulsate once more, Inuyasha drew the sword over his head. In a mighty downwards swing, he screamed out "Meidō Zangetsuha!"

At the same time, Kagome raised Hikari above her own head and swung it downwards as well, crying out "Junshin Arainami!"

With the Tetsusaiga swung downwards, a stream of black crescent moon blades flew from the blade towards the fox mage. Row after row of bamboo rose from the ground, in an attempt to block the attack, only to be mowed down by the crescent moon blades. While the blades continued to mow down the bamboo, a blast of pink and purple swirling energy in the shape of an arrow was flying behind the frontal attack.

At last, the last wall of bamboo was cut down, revealing the mage before the twin attacks. With the mage revealed, the spiraling arrow took the lead and increased it's speed towards the mage, whose eyes widened in shock and a small amount of fear. Quickly standing, he held his right hand up to his face with his index and middle finger sticking up while calling forth a red glowing barrier. The first attack, of the spiraling energy, slammed hard into his barrier. The barrier held for a moment till it suddenly purified, vanishing right before the mage's eyes into nothing.

With the barrier gone, the blast of pink and purple energy hit the mage, making him scream out in utter pain. His body was being purified at the moment, as well as hit with a powerful demonic energy. His pain was only momentary though, for the black crescent moon blades soon hit him and sent him into the portal to Hell that it created.

In a mere whisper, the mage muttered "No…" just as he completely vanished from the world of the living.

Panting heavily, both the hanyous surveyed the path their attacks had taken. Both saw instantly that the mage was no longer where he once stood, for instead there was nothing but broken up ground.

"It's over." Inuyasha softly whispered while he released the transformation of Tetsusaiga and silently sheathed the legendary fang.

Doing the same with Hikari, Kagome sheathed her sword, but upon doing so instantly fell to one knee while grimacing in pain. Seeing this, Inuyasha was by her side immediately.

"Kagome, hang on!"

Weakly smiling, she replied "Don't worry Inuyasha, I'm not going anywhere. I just used up a bit more power than I wanted to with that last attack. After all, it taps both my demonic and miko powers at once."

Understanding her words, the male hanyou nodded and offered her a clawed hand to help her back up. Without hesitation, she took it and felt herself being hauled back to her feet. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Inuyasha mumbled.

Reaching a clawed hand up, Kagome caressed his cheek while allowing her claws to gently rake across the jagged purple stripes. "Why did you transform?"

Looking away, the hanyou began to answer, only to find himself a loss for words. After a moment of remaining silent, he finally slowly said "I thought I had lost you. That thought alone pushed me to tap into my demon blood. It agreed with my half demon self and human self that we needed to avenge you."

"Inuyasha, you shouldn't have worried." Kagome softly admonished.

Turning back at her with fierce blue-green eyes, he replied "Why not!? I love you more than anything else in this world! I would die for you if I knew it would save you!"

Feeling a bit sorry for admonishing her mate, she calmly cupped his cheek and warmly said "I didn't mean that you shouldn't have worried for me. For a moment, I was afraid I'd never see you ever again either. But what I meant was you shouldn't have worried so much, because our link to one another through our mating. If you're alive, then I am also, and vice-versa. Do you understand now what I mean?"

Remaining quiet for moment, the male hanyou processed his mate's words. After a minute, he moved his own clawed hand to her face and carefully cupped it. "I suppose I forgot."

"It's alright." Kagome mumbled while leaning into his touch and closing her eyes. She let out a small contented sigh before slowly reopening her honey colored eyes to look into his blue-green ones. "Inuyasha, are you going to stay the way you are now?"

Realizing she meant his appearance, Inuyasha softly said "I'm not sure… I don't even know how to let my demon blood settle back down."

"You'll learn." a calm voice remarked.

On guard instantly, Inuyasha pushed Kagome behind himself while drawing Tetsusaiga out once more, causing the sword to instantly transform into it's fang shape. Getting a good look at who had spoken, the male hanyou let out a sigh of relief.

"It's only you guys." he muttered while staring at the trio walking towards himself. "I thought for a moment that bastard was back again."

Peeking out from Inuyasha's back, Kagome smiled and moved forward slowly before warmly saying "Iya, Lilly, Ichigo, you guys made it!"

Receiving a nod from each, Inuyasha returned Tetsusaiga to it's sheath. "So, I take it you three were successful against Kenshin?"

"Was there ever a doubt?" Ichigo smugly remarked.

Scratching the back of his head lightly, the silver haired hanyou shrugged and smartly said "I wasn't sure if you could handle it."

Growling at the response he received, the quarter bobcat clenched his right hand tightly and grunted out "Why you…"

"I mean, I expected Iya to come back, and figured more than likely Lilly would with him, but you, eh, I wasn't sure if you'd make it back in one piece." Inuyasha commented with a smirk.

Casting a glare at the silver haired half demon, the orange haired quarter bobcat stopped growling and smirked himself. "Yeah, and judging by your appearance, Kagome had to save your butt. That's kind of pathetic in a way."

"Hey!"

Sighing, Lilly mumbled "Why do they always have to act like idiots?"

Hearing her, Iya couldn't help but softly chuckle. Glancing around for the female bobcat mage, his brow furrowed and he asked "Where is Orihime?"

"Oh no, we forgot about her!" Kagome quickly said while turning away from the half demons and quarter demon and running off.

Following the form of the female hanyou, the group soon found a large tree with the face of the female bobcat showing from within a knot on it. Tears were sliding down her checks while she let out light whimpers and was mumbling something incoherently.

Staring at the female bobcat, the quarter bobcat felt his heart muscles within his chest begin to tighten. "_Orihime…_"

"What happened to her?" Iya asked, shaking the quarter demon from his thoughts.

Looking at the female mage for a moment, Inuyasha let out a ragged breath and said "Earlier, when we finally managed to get Kurama to stand his ground and fight, he threw a seed at Orihime that quickly transformed into this tree. This kind of tree is dangerous, for it's known as a Janen-Ju, or better known as a Tree of Thought Manipulation."

"I've heard of them…" Iya mumbled lightly. "They're a rare type of tree that entraps a person and then shows them their fears and doubts in an endless cycle while it drains away their energy, till finally the person dies and the tree spreads it's seeds to begin again."

Hearing this, Ichigo stepped forward and drew his sword off of his back. Raising it towards the tree, he sharply said "Then I'll have to cut her out!"

"Wait Ichigo!" the black haired dog demon commanded. "You can't just hack away at that tree, because you could hit Orihime."

"We have to get her out!" the quarter bobcat snarled out while readying himself to attack again.

Placing a gentle hand on the quarter bobcat's shoulder, Iya calmly said "I know that, but we have to think about what we're doing."

Growling lightly, the quarter demon lowered his blade and fiercely asked "Then what do we do!? Every moment we spend arguing on how to get her out is another moment that thing sucks energy out of her and Kami knows what it shows her."

"I realize that, Ichigo." Iya quietly remarked. "So allow me to free her."

Frowning, Ichigo began to ask but didn't get the chance as the black haired half demon drew his sword, transforming it instantly into it's halberd form. The sword pulsated for a moment before coating itself in ice.

Carefully, the black haired hanyou placed his sword on the trunk of the tree. The wood instantly reacted to the sword and began being coated in a layer of ice. In under a minute, the entire tree was completely coated in ice. The bobcat mage's breath could be clearly seen while she lightly shivered from within her confines.

"Iya, you'll freeze her to death!" Ichigo snarled while grabbing hold of the black haired dog demon's left shoulder.

Wincing from the touch to his already injured arm, Iya lightly growled and fiercely replied "Let go Ichigo! She won't die, that much I swear to you."

"But…"

"Just watch." Iya firmly replied.

Grudgingly releasing his hold on his friend's shoulder, the quarter bobcat moved back a few feet and intently watched the black haired dog demon with the others. Letting out a sigh, the half dog demon drew up his sword and gently smacked the frozen tree with the broadside of his sword. The tree instantly began to crackle and suddenly shattered, revealing the female bobcat mage that was held within it.

Moving forward faster than Iya could, Ichigo caught Orihime in his arms and glanced down at her face. Seeing she was cold, the quarter demon lifted her up bridal style and leapt out of the icy remains of the tree. Landing next to a tree, he gently laid her down on the ground and pulled his sword off his back before untying his obi. He instantly shed his outer kimono top and wrapped the bobcat mage within it. After a moment, she stopped shivering and seemed to snuggle deeper into the cover.

Taking note of Kagome and Inuyasha's bodies, Iya calmly said "We'd better patch you guys up and settle in for camp. No need to rush off since both of you are injured and Orihime is still unconscious."

Receiving no argument from the pair, the black haired dog demon began pulling bandages, along with a small jar from his kimono top sleeves. Lilly took some and the pair began treating the wounds of the two half dog demons.

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Glancing around the camp, Ichigo let out a small sigh. Once Inuyasha and Kagome had had their wounds treated, the small group of half demons and lone quarter demon group had set up camp for the night and found something to eat. Not long after dinner, most of the group had fallen asleep in an attempt to rest up. The only ones not asleep were himself and Iya, with black haired hanyou sitting in the tree above him with Lilly in his arms. The half demon's eyes were already dropping, showing signs he was nearly ready to slip off to sleep himself.

"You know Iya, I can stay up and keep watch." the quarter bobcat said aloud.

The dog hanyou yawned lightly, revealing his white fangs. Leaning back up against the tree and pulling the half neko demon closer to himself, he mumbled "I think I'll take your offer. My body still needs some rest to recuperate."

With his words said, the black haired dog demon closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, his breathing evened out, letting the quarter demon know that his friend was in a deep healing sleep.

Sighing once more, he glanced down at the form of the orange haired mage before him. She was laying in the same spot he had placed her earlier that evening, with his kimono top still wrapped around her, giving her extra warmth.

Staring at the female mage's face, Ichigo noted that she no longer looked as pained as she had when he first saw her, as if she was finally in a dreamless slumber. "_I only hope what Inuyasha told us is wrong._"

Closing his eyes for a moment, the quarter demon slowly moved himself to the head of the female bobcat and gently lifted her head and placed it within her lap. Reaching out, he began to play with her hair while staring down at her still form.

The memory of what the silver haired half demon began playing back in his mind, with his words seemingly seared into his mind.

"_Kurama told us during the fight that if Orihime managed to survive the torture that tree put her through, and the energy draining, that she may never be the same again. He told us that the tree would break her spirit and shatter her soul, and that she would never recover from it._"

Hearing the silver haired hanyou's words once more in his mind, the orange haired quarter bobcat scowled at the thought of the mage not being the same. "_To never see her happy again, or to never have her like she was, that would be heartbreaking to see. I want her to be happy, to be able to laugh and find joy in life. If what Inuyasha said is true, she may never do any of those things again._"

"_I only wonder what that damn tree showed her. If I knew, I could maybe help her. I just hope she wakes up soon. She's been unconscious ever since the attack apparently._"

Without realizing it, the quarter bobcat began running his hands over the mage's cheeks. Still lost in thought, he mumbled "_Please Kami, let her awake and be the same. I don't want her to suffer._"

Waking from his thoughts, the quarter bobcat felt the female mage starting to stir. Looking down at her face, he saw her eyes scrunch up a bit before slowly fluttering open to reveal gray orbs. Her eyes were a bit unfocused, but slowly, the cleared and saw the face of the quarter bobcat.

Immediately, tears began to spill down her cheeks. Seeing this, Ichigo felt his heart becoming heavy at the sight. Carefully, he wiped away the tears and whispered "There, there Orihime, it's alright."

Sitting up, the female bobcat immediately noted that she was wrapped up in the quarter bobcat's kimono top. Turning towards him, she felt her lip trembling as she threw herself into his chest and let more tears flow out.

"Ichigo, oh Ichigo…" she whimpered.

Unsure of what to do, the quarter bobcat gently pulled her into his lap and allowed her to continue sobbing into his chest. In a soothing motion, he began rubbing her back while she released her tears.

After ten minutes, she weakly pulled back and raised a clawed hand to his face and placed it gently onto it. Finding that her hand didn't pass through his cheek, she whispered "This isn't another vision…"

"No, it's not." Ichigo mumbled back. "You're free from that tree now, Orihime."

Upon hearing his words, Orihime once more buried her head into his chest and let fresh tears spill out. She mumbled something incoherently that Ichigo couldn't make out, but allowed her to continue sobbing into his top.

For an hour, the mage quietly sobbed into the quarter demon's chest before finally pulling back to look at him with red puffy eyes. "I thought I would never see you again…" she whimpered while burying her face into his shoulder.

A bit taken back by the mage's straight forward words, the quarter bobcat lightly sighed and slightly smiled to himself. "I was worried I might not get to see you either."

"Ichigo, I'm so scared…"

Looking down at the head of the mage, he picked up the scent of fresh tears and began feeling his shoulder getting slightly wet from the tears of the mage. "Orihime, I'm here, you don't have to worry."

"All of those horrible visions…" she whimpered. "All of them, they were of you dying. Then there were some of you killing your former mate…"

Struggling to suppress a surprised gasp, the quarter bobcat asked "You were shown what happened at the end of Rukia's life?"

"Yes, I saw what you had to do to her." Orihime quietly sobbed out. "I watched as you killed her in order to keep her from becoming Kenshin's. I'm… I'm so sorry…"

Shocked by the words of the female mage, Ichigo whispered "It's alright, you didn't do anything."

"But it wasn't fair." she whimpered out. "You had to do something that no person, demon, human, or otherwise, should ever have to do."

Thinking for a moment, the quarter bobcat softly replied "You're right Orihime, but it is what she wanted to do. Rukia… she…"

Swallowing the lump in his throat he felt had formed, he finally said "Rukia, she never wanted to become Kenshin's slave willingly. When I failed to stop him, she made up her mind that she would not allow him to use her for whatever he wanted. So, to stop it, she made the choice to end her life. I wanted to stop her, but I knew she would do it with or without my help. My heart still aches when I think about what I had to do."

Unafraid to let his tears slip out, he added "She loved me more than I ever could have imagined, but in the end, she knew that there was no other way to stop the spell. Rukia made the ultimate sacrifice, one that I would have gladly made for her."

"Before she died though, I promised I would try to move on with my life, that I would try and find love once more, and possibly become happy again. The memories the two of us made, they will never fade, but that promise, it is one that I never wanted to keep. I've spent every waking hour, even in my sleep, thinking of ways to take out Kenshin. Now that I have, I realize, I'm free of him once and for all, meaning it's time I began keeping my promise to Rukia. I don't know that that means, but I know one thing for sure."

Raising her head to look into his brown eyes, Orihime heard him say "I want to move on with my life, and to find love again. Maybe I already have and I'm too stubborn to admit it. Just know this much Orihime, that what happened with Rukia is in the past. I'm finally at peace over it, even though I wish I could go back and find another way to have saved her, but I know now that I have to keep moving forward."

Blushing a bit, he added "And the only way I can think to do that for now is to keep moving forward, with you."

Realizing what the quarter demon was saying, the mage felt her heart flutter a bit and her cheeks warm up. Her tears slowly began to dry up and she quietly laid her head back down on his chest and whispered "I would like that."

"Good, because I'm not about to abandon you." he mumbled. Feeling his body beginning to beg for sleep, he whispered "You should get some sleep. I know you just woke up, but it's been a long day or so."

Yawning into his chest, Orihime muttered "Alright… Good night, Ichigo."

"Good night, Orihime."


	58. Chapter 57: Over Thinking

**Hey everyone! Well, this past week or so was interesting. Last week, I finished up with all of my major projects, at long last, hence why I got to post a chapter then of this story and my other, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. I also completed a good bit of stuff on Kingdom Hearts 2, with me finally getting to face Sephiroth at long last. I had been in complete anticipation for that battle, and I was not disappointed one bit. Btw, I have beaten the game previously, but I started over by playing Proud Mode, which is the hardest level. I thought it wouldn't be so bad, but I died against the first boss, lol, which was an eye opener. Needless to say, it's been an interesting time since then. At any rate, I have all the stuff for my journal now, with exception of the necessary score to clear the last tournament at Olympus Coliseum. Ugh, 50 rounds of pure hell should be interesting, hehe. Then I can end the game, at long last. Other stuff in life happening, not much. I've gotten a bit of my Christmas shopping done, thankfully. I have bought everything for my mate, so I'm good there. My sister is taken care of, along with my dad, which is ironic due that both just want money, lol. I still need to buy for my step mom and step brother, along with my sister's boyfriend and possibly others that I don't remember. Ack, Christmas is so difficult.**

**Ah yes, some good news at the least. Sunday, my dad, step mom, step brother, my mate, and myself are heading to Tennessee (Pigeon Forge) for three or four days. I can't wait to unwind and enjoy myself down there. I haven't had too much time off since August, other than Thanksgiving, but that wasn't too much then. At any rate, I look forward to the trip and just getting some time to relax.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along nicely. I managed to write this chapter up with relative ease, surprisingly. I'm just glad I got it done and can post it this week. Plus, it's a bit longer than previous chapters, but that was due that I didn't really want to split this chapter up. Too much going on to do so. Like always though, I will try to post next week or the week after.**

**Moving along, time for the reviews!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: Thanks about the nice ending, and for the review!**

**Kattana: Thanks about the chapter. Yeah, it seems Orihime and Ichigo are getting together. Perhaps Ichigo might even smile some. (/Hears gasps of shock.\) Yeah, I figured everyone might have forgotten about Inuyasha and Kagome marking one another as lifetime mates. I just tried to play it up so people would think like that. But yes, their plan worked out, and in the end, they took down Kurama. Lol, yeah, the new couple seems interesting, to say the least, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Lost Souls in Endless Time: Lemon you say? Never know. It could happen. Yuck, tuna… (/Notes mate is eating a tuna sandwich.\) Silly cats and their tuna… No offense to any tuna lovers, but I hate the smell of it. It smells like you're eating an old shoe that sat in the rain for five years and was visited by numerous dogs marking their territory. Getting back on track, yes, all of the mages but Byakuya are dead now. Yes, I did say there are in total 65-70 chapters, and with this one making 57, things are starting to wind down. Perhaps there is more to come, but no one knows that. Well, other than me, hehe. As for the group having several chapters of helping out villages and so on, I wouldn't really count on it. I kind of took a disliking to that in the last season of Inuyasha. Honestly though, how could they top the previous season with the Band of Seven. That was the greatest season ever, with the battles getting more and more interesting as they moved along. At any rate, yes, the last chapters could be used to introduce new characters, but like I said previously, I wouldn't count on it. I don't plan on dragging this thing out too much. As for adding an arrancar, eh, not likely, but it could happen. We'll just have to see. Heh, good luck on the Twilight fanfic. I haven't really gotten into Twilight, but who knows, I may. If I find the time that is, lol. At any rate, thanks for the review!**

**Lily887787: Glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for today. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I do truly appreciate them. I know I say that every time, but I do mean it. I appreciate any and all feedback on my story, be it good or bad. Ah yes, and thank you to YellowDiamond1207 for adding me to your favorite stories.**

**At any rate, that's it for this round. Thank you, all of you, once again for your continuous support and reviews. I do appreciate it. And now, I'm off, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 57**

The scent of blood was thick in the air, along with sounds of many people screaming. Numerous huts that had once been proud symbols of a village were ignited, with some women and children kneeling before them crying.

Sprawled out on the ground of the once strong village were numerous bodies of men, women, and children, each with a single wound across their bodies. The wound was a simple slash across the throat, or where the weapon of choice had sunk into their heart.

Standing in the middle of the destruction was a blood soaked young man with brown hair in a high small pony tail with emotionless brown eyes and freckles on his cheeks. He wore a black leather full body outfit that had green trim and black boots. Blood covered his body from head to toe, but none of it was his own, for it was all of his victims instead. In his right hand was a chain scythe, with the chain end resting in his left hand.

The young man's face had splotches of blood covering it, but it seemed to not bother him. Not even the sickening sound of the blood dripping to the ground off of his scythe seemed to affect him at all.

Staring at the crying women and children, the young man raised his scythe and chain wordlessly and threw it at the closest woman's head. His attack made contact, slicing her head off in a single sweep. Pulling his scythe back with the chain, he saw the children and few women left looking at him with fear. The remaining six made a break for it to leave the village, only to be slaughtered, one by one, by the young man. With each death, he looked at them with his emotionless eyes, seemingly having no compassion, no apprehension, or no remorse within his soul.

The last two to survive was a brown haired young woman and a black haired child. The woman pushed the child behind herself and turned her brown eyes towards the young man with fierceness shining through them. Staring back into them with his emotionless eyes, the seemingly unfazed young man raced forward with his chain scythe ready to attack. The woman simply spread her arms out to defend the child. Upon sinking his chain scythe within the young woman's chest where her heart was, the young man noted the woman's appearance was changing into one of a silver fox hanyou, who had golden eyes, silver fox ears, and a silver fox tail. Not caring about the change, the young man pulled his scythe from her corpse, allowing the hanyou to fall to the ground with a sickening thud.

With her protector gone, the young girl stared at the young man with tears in her eyes. She had brown eyes and black hair that had a small amount of hair tied off to the side of her face. Her clothing was an orange and yellow plaid kimono, with her feet apparently bare.

Eyeing the girl, the young man said nothing when he slashed out at her and sunk his scythe deep into her chest. Before his eyes, the young girl's image changed from a child to a young woman, who was a hanyou. She had a pair of black wolf ears on her head while her eyes were aqua colored. The blade still was deep within her chest, but her expression was one of shock, confusion, and betrayal.

Unaffected by the look of the wolf hanyou, the young man withdrew his blade and moved back to the center of the village. Blood continued to drip off of his blade, but he paid it no heed, only remained standing in his position, seemingly waiting for something.

The young man didn't have long to wait, for within a moment, a cloud of purple miasma appeared, with a tall man with long butt length black hair, cold ruby eyes, and cream colored skin appearing from it. His attire consisted of a fine light blue kimono top with a purple interior and yellow obi sash, with a silver set of armor that covered his chest, which had a red eye in the center of it. On his shoulders were large dull silver spikes, with two handle like structures coming out of his shoulders that went to his back, where more spikes made up a part of it. Sticking out of his back were four green tendrils that reached just above the ground.

Taking in the destruction of the village, along with the scene of the wolf and silver fox hanyous laying on the ground, the new man that had arrived darkly chuckled and coolly said "Well done Kohaku. You have done your job very well. For that, I shall allow you a brief look at what you have done for me."

Snapping his fingers, the black haired man cruelly smirked as the eyes of the young man, which had been cloudy and emotionless, became focused. Watching as confusion filled the young man's eyes, the black haired man lightly chuckled as they young man began looking around at the destroyed village.

"Come and see what you have done for me, Kohaku." the black haired man remarked with a smirk.

Glancing around, Kohaku had to force himself to keep from gagging at the sight before him. He saw the dead bodies lying on the ground, with each having a single slash mark. Numerous huts were ablaze, and the ground was stained in red. The sickening scent of blood was everywhere, including on himself.

Feeling something sticky on his skin, the young man raised his hands to see his hands were covered in blood, along with his weapon, which he instantly dropped to the ground. Moving his hand to his face, he found blood coated it as well. Looking down at what he wore, he saw his entire set of clothing was coated in the thick crimson substance.

A surge of vile began rising up within his throat, but Kohaku forced it back down. Weakly looking at the dead bodies, two stood out to him. Recognizing both immediately, he raced over to the fallen form of the female silver fox hanyou first. Tears instantly began leaking down his cheeks while he softly touched the hanyou's face. Finding she was dead, he moved to the wolf hanyou, only to find she was dead too. Sobbing out, he pulled the fallen form of the wolf hanyou into his lap and stared down at her face before glancing over at the silver fox's corpse once more.

"Sango, Rin… No, I couldn't have…" he whispered in disbelief.

"It was you, Kohaku. I must say, you did a fine job on finishing the two of them." the black haired man spoke up.

Casting a fierce glare at the man, Kohaku laid Rin's body onto the ground and stood. Turning his furious eyes at the black haired man, he snarled out "Naraku, you bastard, you made me do this!"

"No Kohaku, you did this on your own." Naraku remarked with a sneer. "You asked for me to take away your memories and your conscious, so I did so. What was left is what you are: a killing machine."

Shaking his head rapidly, Kohaku heatedly fired back "I'm not a monster like you! I don't kill for pure pleasure!"

"Then how do you explain what you did to these villagers, or your poor sister who tried to protect that young girl, or to the person you claimed you cared about?" Naraku questioned with a cruel smile.

Eyes widening, the young man felt his heart pounding within his chest upon hearing the question that the evil half demon had mentioned. Seeing the reaction he had on the young man, Naraku added "It's a shame that after you tried so hard to change Kohaku that you did something like this, but you know what you truly are. You are like me, and always will be like me. It is inevitable that you desire to kill and wish to bring death and destruction upon others in order to get what you want."

"NO!" Kohaku screamed. "I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!"

Smirking, the evil hanyou asked "Is that so? Why is it even now, when you deny such things, you are soaked in the blood of the innocent and are unsure of whether you deserve to live or not?"

Feeling his breath hitch in his throat, the brown haired young man weakly shook his head, whimpering out "I'm not like you… I'm not…"

"But you are, Kohaku. You know that no matter how hard you try, you will always be tainted by what you have done. Why not give in and do as you once did, which is live your life through killing others without remorse? Would it not be easier to return to the way you once were?"

More tears immediately fell down the young man's cheeks upon hearing the words of Naraku. A small voice in his head mumbled "_Perhaps he's right. I don't deserve to live like a normal person, for my soul is far too stained._"

Taking a glance behind himself at the fallen forms of Rin and Sango, he felt his head and heart hurt to just look at the pair. "_Both of them, they cared so much for me, and how did I repay them, by murdering them. Neither ever gave up on me, yet I did this to them. How could I ever go on living knowing what I've done?_"

Immediately, the image of his father and fallen comrades entered into his mind, along with the betrayed look his sister had given him on the day he had slaughtered his father and comrades, and nearly his sister then.

He instantly began shaking and noted his chain scythe was nearby. "_I don't deserve to live. I should end it._"

Moving to where his scythe laid, the young man picked it up and gripped it tightly. Watching this, Naraku darkly chuckled and tauntingly asked "So, you're going to end it all? What a shame, for you are more cowardly than I thought. Why not live on and take what you want like I did for so long."

Staring at the blood stained weapon, Kohaku remained quiet. Holding the blade up in the air, he looked into a portion of it that was clean and saw a reflection within the metal. In it, he saw the image of Naraku's face, with ruby eyes staring back at him.

"See, you are like me, Kohaku." the reflection commented with a cruel smile on the hanyou's face.

Tears slowly streaked down the young man's face upon hearing the words of the hanyou. "I… I… I am…"

"That's right, you are like me, aren't you, Kohaku?" Naraku taunted.

Sniffling, Kohaku began to speak, but stopped when he heard a pair of voices calling out to him in what sounded like echoes. Hearing them, he couldn't make out whose they were, or what they were saying, but he felt he knew who they were.

Shutting out the sounds of the world, the young man closed his eyes for a moment. Remaining quiet, he heard the voices once again, but this time he identified one of the two.

"Sango…" he hesitantly mumbled.

Listening once more, he heard the voice of his sister say "_Kohaku, wake up. Come on, you have to wake up. I know you blame yourself for what happened, but it's over. You're not Naraku!_"

"_I'm not Naraku…_" Kohaku repeated in his mind.

"DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM, KOHAKU!" Naraku bellowed. "WE ARE ONE IN THE SAME!"

Unsure of what to do or say, the young man closed his eyes to think, only to hear the other voice again. Hearing it, he mentally noted that the voice sounded heavenly to him. After a few seconds, he finally determined the voice was that of Rin.

"_Kohaku, please, don't give into the darkness within your heart. We all care about you too much to lose you! Please…_"

Hearing her hesitate, he heard her lowly whisper "_I need you to stay with me._"

"_She needs me?_" he pondered. "_Why would anyone need me?_"

Without warning, images began playing through his mind, ones of him sitting with the hanyou form of Rin. Noting a touch of blush on her cheeks, he heard her softly say "_In fact, being around you makes me feel more at ease. It's like, when I'm with you, I feel like nothing can trouble me. I've felt like that since I met you, even when you tried to hurt me._"

"The blood that is on your hands, you can never atone for all of it." Naraku coolly remarked.

Hearing the evil hanyou's words, Kohaku shut his eyes and mentally mumbled "_He's right… After what all I've done, I don't deserve anything._"

"_You're wrong._ _What happened to you wasn't right. Naraku manipulated you and used you as a tool to do his bidding. It was never your choice to do as he commanded._"

The words Rin had spoke to him that same night he was thinking of rang through his mind clearly. Hearing her words from that night once more, he heard her say "_But you regret all those things! That shows me that you never wanted to harm anyone!_"

In his mind, he then remembered what she had done next, which had caught him completely off guard that night. The image of her pulling him into a warm embraced filled his mind, along with her soft words.

"_That's why I can never dislike you, Kohaku. You know you were wrong, and regret it, thus I like you. Nothing Naraku made you do matters to me._"

Snapping his eyes open, Kohaku raised his hands up to look at them. Staring at them for a long moment, he slowly saw flames beginning to spread across his hands and move up his arms. At last, the flames coated his entire body. Gradually, the blood that was soaking his clothing, along with his clothing, burned away to reveal the brown colored clothing he had received. His eyes and hair changed color as well, with his hair receiving a red with brown streaks left in it while his eyes become black as coal.

Staring at Naraku with his black coal eyes, Kohaku coldly said "Naraku, the days of you controlling me have come and gone. No longer will I worry about what you had me do. All that matters is what I do from here on. The blood of my victims, it will always be on my hands, but I will not allow it to control my life forever. I will atone for the atrocities that I committed with these two hands of mine. I will do what I can for people. I know I could never make up for what I did for you, but at the same time, it is not my fault. That is why I'm leaving the past behind with you in this place. No longer shall I linger over what I did."

"You will never be free of me, Kohaku." Naraku coolly remarked. "I will always haunt your mind forever."

Turning away from the hanyou, the fire covered hanyou replied "That may be true, but you no longer have dominion over me. And that means I can move on with life. Farewell."

With his words said, the fire hanyou walked away from the evil hanyou. In a flash, he felt his mind blur before he found himself looking up with hazy eyes at Sango and Rin. Noting the worry on both their faces, he weakly smiled.

"Kohaku, you're finally awake, thank goodness." Sango mumbled while moving down and embracing her brother.

Smiling at the young fire hanyou, the wolf hanyou whispered in her mind "_Yes, thank goodness._"

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Three days passed by, with the group led by the Demon Lord of the West continuing to move onwards towards the Western Lands. Along the way, the two former members of The Thirteen conversed with the dog mage quite a bit. Much to the chagrin of the white haired dog mage, the female dog mage seemed to spend more and more time talking with the black haired dog demon.

Walking at the very back of the group were the pair of half fox demons. The silver fox hanyou worriedly glanced ahead at her brother, the half fire demon, noting that he seemed spaced out like he had been since a few nights before when he had had a nightmare of their former enemy. Looking ahead, she noted that the female wolf hanyou, who was near the front of the group, but behind the demon lord, was also seemingly casting worried glances back at the half fire demon.

Sighing softly, the silver fox half demon heard her mate lowly whisper "Sango, what's wrong?"

Glancing over into the emerald eyes of Miroku, Sango broke the look up and glanced away, muttering "It's nothing."

"Sango, I know you better than that."

Releasing a small sigh, the silver fox hanyou glanced ahead to the group. Slowing her pace down so that they were out of hearing range of the closest member of the group, she whispered softly "I'm worried about Kohaku."

"Are you talking about how quiet he's been the last few days since his nightmare about Naraku?"

Nodding slightly, the female hanyou quietly said "He told me about the nightmare, but it seems like since then, something has been gnawing at him. It's like he's lost in his own mind, thinking about something. It's unlike him to be like this."

"Perhaps he is contemplating what to do with his life now. After all, any plans he may have had before the mages attacked could have went up in smoke since he's become a half demon."

"I suppose…" Sango mumbled. "I don't think he had anything planned though. He was just enjoying his freedom for the time being."

Pondering on his mate's words, the red fox hanyou slightly smirked and softly said "I did notice one major change in him since that night: he's avoiding Rin at all costs."

Frowning, the silver fox hanyou quietly said "That's unusual for him. Kohaku and Rin have always gotten along fine. I wonder if something happened within that dream that has made him skittish of her."

"Possibly…" Miroku murmured. "For now, I think we should let him be though."

Looking down at the ground, the female hanyou whispered "But I'm worried about him…"

"I know Sango, but Kohaku probably needs time to sort out what he's thinking and feeling. If we try and rush him, he may just sink deeper into this silence."

Releasing a small sigh, Sango nodded her head in compliance. Smiling at his mate, the red fox hanyou pecked her cheek and said "Now then, we'd better catch up to the others."

Returning the smile, the female fox hanyou began moving back towards the group, along with her mate, who held her hand. Taking one last glance at her brother as she moved closer, she mentally said "_Kohaku, I only hope whatever is going through your head, you make the right choice._"

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Sitting on a rock cliff overlooking a large valley with a river running through it, the half fire demon let out a small sigh.

"_What do I do? I know what I want, but how to go about it is the tough part. And then there is him…_"

Letting out another sigh, the half fire demon glanced up at the night sky in time to see the rising moon. Staring at it, he noted it was in it's first quarter phase. Slightly smiling, he remembered that in the recent past, he had seen the crescent moon ascend, transforming him into his human form once more.

The image of the wolf hanyou instantly ran through his mind, making him smile once more while staring at the mental image of the hanyou. His thoughts were disturbed though by the sound of rustling, causing him to quickly get into a ready position.

Sniffing the air, he frowned and remembered his sense of smell was far less keen than his sister's or any of the others due that he was an elemental half demon. "_My sense of smell and hearing is just above a normal human, but not much more. Even my eyesight isn't much better._"

A moment passed before the shadowy image of the silver haired demon lord came into view before the half fire demon. Immediately, the fire hanyou took an involuntary step backwards, but stopped and forced himself to stand his ground. A feeling of recognizing the demon lord's position quickly filled him, forcing him to slightly bow.

"Lord Sesshomaru." he quietly remarked.

Nodding in approval, the demon lord walked past the hanyou quietly and glanced out at the vast valley before him. Unsure of what to say or do, Kohaku decided to leave, only to be stopped by a calm, emotionless voice.

"This Sesshomaru wishes to speak with you, Kohaku."

Freezing in his tracks, the fire hanyou frowned, but slowly turned back towards the demon lord, who still had his back to him. Looking at the demon lord's back, the fire hanyou noted the long flowing sleeves of his kimono top were wavering a bit in the gentle breeze the blew through the area.

After a minute, the demon lord emotionlessly asked "Why have you been avoiding Rin?"

A touch shocked at the question, the fire hanyou rolled the question around in his mind, though he already knew the answer. Knowing the demon lord expected an answer and would detect if he told a lie, the hanyou mentally sighed. Deciding on an answer at last, he steeled his emotions.

"I would rather not say, Lord Sesshomaru."

Within a moment, Sesshomaru replied "This Sesshomaru would rather you did. Upsetting this Sesshomaru's ward is not something you should desire to do. Again, why have you avoided Rin, and do not make this Sesshomaru ask once more."

Knowing he had no choice but to answer, the fire hanyou tore his gaze away from the back of the demon lord to look at the ground. Remaining quiet for a moment, he finally slowly said "Ever since I woke up from my nightmare the other night, my thoughts have been wrapped around what I should do now that I have decided to put the past behind me."

"That does not explain why you have avoided Rin."

Still staring at the ground, Kohaku quietly mumbled "I know…"

"You desire to be with my ward, do you not?"

Shocked and surprised at the question, the hanyou looked at the demon lord's back with his mouth agape. He began to try and deny the accusation, only to find no words would come out of his mouth. At last, he turned his back on the demon lord and remained quiet while trying to come up with a response.

"Judging by your scent, this Sesshomaru would believe you do desire to be with her."

"I…"

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, the fire hanyou stopped trying to speak. In a low whisper, he heard Sesshomaru say "This Sesshomaru grants you permission to court with Rin."

In a cold voice, he added "But should you harm her in any manner, know this Sesshomaru will not be forgiving as she might be."

Gulping from the words of the demon lord, Kohaku mumbled "I understand, and thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Hn."

With his single word said, the elegant demon lord slowly walked away and back into the forest, leaving the stunned fire hanyou. Turning about to face the cliff once more, he glanced up at the moon and softly smiled.

"_Rin…_"

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Staring up at the night sky, the female wolf hanyou quietly sighed. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs while her head rested on her knees.

"_Kohaku, what could be wrong with you that you won't acknowledge me? Did that dream frighten you that much?_"

Feeling tears welling up in her eyes, Rin pushed them back and sniffled lightly. "_Look at me, being so silly. I must look like such a fool._"

"_Even so… I can't help it, I care about him, more than I care to admit it. Why is it that looking at him makes my heart flutter the way it does? It's like I can hardly breathe when I'm near him. It's so confusing._"

Flicking her ears for any sound, she heard soft footsteps approaching her. Judging by the sound of the steps, she determined it was the person she was thinking of immediately.

A few moments passed before the fire hanyou with his red hair that had brown streaks in it got within a few feet of her. Lifting her head off of her knees, she glanced at the fire hanyou, who seemed to have a shy look within his eyes.

"Rin, do you mind if I sit with you?"

Revealing a small smile, the wolf hanyou softly replied "Go right ahead, Kohaku."

Nodding, he quietly sat down beside of the wolf hanyou. Noting he was looking at her, she returned the look with the pair's eyes meeting. Each saw numerous things within one another's eyes till both broke their stare at last, with the pair each feeling their cheeks heat up with a light blush on them.

Regaining his composure, Kohaku glanced up at the night sky, saying "It is a beautiful night."

"Yes, it is." Rin quietly replied.

Looking down at his hands, the fire hanyou clenched and unclenched them a few times. After a moment, he finally said "Rin, I apologize for the last few days."

A bit surprised at his words, the wolf hanyou unfolded her legs from her chest and let them down to the ground. She began to respond, but heard the fire hanyou add "I was so caught up with what happened recently that I didn't take into account that your feelings would be hurt by me. For that, I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind these last couple of days is all."

Remaining quiet for a moment, the fire hanyou continued on, saying "I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life from now on. With the last thoughts of Naraku gone from my mind, I feel I need to move forward with my life and quit wallowing in the past. I came to that decision thanks to you."

"It's a bit funny, I suppose." he remarked. "I never thought I'd be alive after the battle with Naraku. I always assumed prior to the final battle, that I'd be dead due that he would take my piece of the Sacred Jewel, and then that'd be it. It's strange in a way that I'm still alive and well thanks to Kikyo. Even so, I wasn't sure what I would do. Up till the mages attacked, I was enjoying living once more."

Weakly smiling, he added "When we defeated the mages, the only thing that went through my mind instead of the doubt of what to do was I was so happy you'd be alright, and that I could live on. Then that nightmare happened, but I realized in it I have to move on with life. I can never repay those that I've hurt for what I did, but I can live on and try to atone for it. I will no longer let the guilt I once felt control me again."

Taking a deep breath, he looked into the aqua colored eyes of the wolf hanyou and reached out and took hold of her hand. Immediately, each blushed a bit, but the fire hanyou calmed his nerves a bit.

"Rin, what I'm trying to say is this. Why I avoided you was I was trying to decide on my feelings for you and if I deserved to act on them. Ever since I met you, I felt something different for you. When you look at me, you see past everything I've ever done in my life. I guess what I'm getting at is…"

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to cool his burning cheeks, Kohaku softly asked "Would you consider allowing me to court you?"

Instantly, Rin felt her breath hitch in her throat upon hearing his words. Staring into his black coal eyes, she felt her cheeks burning as well, but knew the answer to his question in a split second.

"Yes Kohaku, I would like that very much."

Smiling at her, the fire hanyou leaned closer to the wolf hanyou. They faces were a few inches apart while they stared one another in the eye. At long last, the male hanyou brushed his lips across the wolf hanyou's. The kiss was soft and gentle, but only lasted a moment before the hanyous pulled apart. Both felt their hearts thundering within their chests while each hanyous' cheeks were a shade of scarlet.

Reigning in her emotions, Rin glanced over at the fire hanyou and lightly smiled. Scooting closer, she laid her head onto his shoulder and closed her eyes while taking in his scent and familiarizing herself completely with it. Noting this, the fire hanyou released a small sigh and snaked an arm around to her right shoulder to pull her closer.

Glancing up at the night sky, he weakly smiled and mentally mumbled "_At last, I can move on and live once again._"

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Slowly trekking through the woods while following the scent of sulfur, a half neko demon twitched her ears lightly, checking for any sounds that would alert her to someone following her. Taking another sniff, she found the air was clear and that nothing but the natural creatures of the forest surrounded her.

Finding the hot spring she had been searching for she drew her trusted sword out of her obi and set it next to the hot spring. Swiveling her cat ears once more and inhaling the air around her, she determined at last that she was alone and in no danger. With that, she quickly undressed and slowly slid her body into the steamy water. Fully in it, she sank into it up to her shoulders and released a tired sigh.

Glancing up at the moon lit sky, she weakly smiled. The moon was already nearing it's full moon phase. "_In just a few nights, it'll be completely full, and I'll be human once more, along with Iya._"

The name she had said last rang through her mind, making her instantly envision an image of the black haired dog hanyou. Her cheeks lightly heated upon thinking of him.

Letting out a small sigh, she glanced down at the steamy water to see her reflection with her long black hair floating around herself. Tired of staring at her reflection, she glanced back up at the sky to see the stars shining down.

Closing her eyes, she heard the spirit of her sword calling out to her, asking "_What is troubling you so much, Lilly? Asami was never like this._"

"_Nothing…_" Lilly mentally mumbled.

In her mind, she saw the image of a powerful light brown cat with long sandy looking fur with three sharp claws on each foot, a long furry tail, ragged furry ears, a blue jewel like dot on it's forehead, green eyes, a black nose, a silver earring in each ear, and a blue scarf around it's neck appear.

Staring at her, the cat grunted out "_You can't hide your thoughts from me, Lilly. After all, we are connected, much like how I was to Asami._"

Mentally groaning, the half neko muttered back "_Why do you care so much all of a sudden? From what I remember, you have always been too lazy to take the time to care about anything that is going on._"

"_Perhaps, but only by choice and when it doesn't interfere with your connection with me._"

Releasing another sigh, she muttered in reply "_That's not too surprising. Just drop it, alright Kimi._"

"_I do wish you would call me my proper name when it is the two of us._" the cat grit out.

Rolling her eyes mentally, she muttered "_And I wish you'd drop this game of charades, but that's not happening anytime soon, so I'll keep calling you Kimi._"

About to respond, the sandy cat stopped and released a small growl of annoyance. "_Fine then, I shall get to the point. Lilly, whatever is troubling you is affecting you more than you know it. I know due to our training together. If you wish to master my power, then you must rid yourself of these troubling thoughts. From what I remember, it is custom to talk a problem out, so speak with me of it._"

"_Fine, if it will get you off my case, I'll talk._" Lilly grunted out.

A deathly silence fell between the half neko and the sword spirit. Annoyed by it, the spirit began to speak, only to be cut off by the neko instead.

"_I'm unsure of what to do. Iya… he…_"

"_He marked you as his mate during his heat. Remember, I was there and I knew what happened to you._" the spirit remarked.

Blushing a bit from embarrassment, the half neko asked "_You know all that happened?_"

"_I'm not as unobservant as you and Asami assume I am. I can sense things that happen to the one that wields me. I'd have to assume that Asami didn't know I knew what happened on the night she was with Lord Inutaisho, if I had to guess._"

"_Oh…_"

"_Anyways, continue._" the spirit urged.

Clearing her mind, Lilly mentally nodded and slowly said "_He marked me as his mate, and during the fight with Kenshin, when I was under the mage's control, he admitted to me that he had indeed marked me as a mate, and that he cares deeply for me._"

"_And?_"

Frowning, the neko replied "_That's it. Ever since, we've been courting. He said it's his way to trying to get to know me better so we can officially become mates. But that's the problem._"

"_Becoming mates is the problem?_"

Shaking her head lightly, she evenly responded with "_No, that's not the problem. The problem is, I don't know if I deserve to be his mate. Mates are supposed to build their strength off of one another, but I'm just a human who became a half demon. I have no real power or strength, while he is so strong._"

Groaning, the spirit growled out "_You are so naive. If you think that excuse is what is holding you back, you are more foolish than I thought._"

"_Why do you say that!?_" Lilly grit out. "_Admit it, I'm nowhere near his level of strength and power. It's all I can do to just make it through our training with Ichigo._"

Chuckling, the cat spirit muttered "_You are underestimating yourself, yet again. Has it never occurred to you that he doesn't care about how strong you are? Perhaps that doesn't matter to him at all. Lord Inutaisho didn't seem to care how strong Asami was, nor did he care how strong Izayoi was. Why should his son, Iya, care how strong you are?_"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the half neko slowly replied "_But he deserves someone who doesn't need protected all the time. He deserves a mate who can live up to what he is._"

"_I am beginning to ponder if all of you half demons ever do anything other than second guess yourselves._"

"_What is that supposed to mean!?_"

Lightly chuckling, the spirit replied "_Just as it sounds. Asami, like yourself, second guessed herself constantly. Demons and humans tend to be sure of their selves, whether they're right or wrong. Half demons though, from what I can tell with both of my masters, are far less sure of their selves, with them second guessing their decisions constantly. Asami always did so, like you are right now, even when the truth was before her._"

"_The… the truth?_"

In a calm voice, the spirit responded with "_Yes, the truth. Can't you see it? Iya has found his own truth, and you know it through his words and actions, so why can't you see the truth that is within your own heart?_"

Taking a deep breath, Lilly looked within her mind, examining it for what the spirit had meant by truth. She quickly found her answer and mumbled back "_The truth of my feelings for him, that even though I don't think I'm worthy of him, I want to be with him, regardless._"

"_At last._" the spirit grumbled. "_It took you long enough to figure that much out._"

Lightly smiling, Lilly warmly said "_Thank you for your help, Kimi._"

Watching the cat growl at her, she heard it say "_Get my name right! I don't mind the name Lord Inutaisho gave me, but I wish you would use my proper name!_"

"_Don't worry, I will, eventually._"

"_Ingrate…_"

Opening her eyes, Lilly glanced up at the sky and softly smiled. Dunking her head under the water, she began washing her hair while rubbing her body down with a small cloth she had brought in with her. Feeling clean at last, she began to rise out of the water, only to stop when she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the woods.

Reaching out and grabbing Kimi, she pulled it from it's sheath and narrowed her eyes on the direction she heard the footsteps coming from. Sniffing the air, she found a familiar scent of cinnamon and woods, which she quickly identified to belong to the person she longed to see.

Hearing the footsteps stop at the edge of the woods, the half neko saw the back of the black haired hanyou, who quietly asked "Lilly, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Letting out a small sigh while staring back into the forest, the dog hanyou calmly said "I was starting to get worried since you've been gone a while."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Lilly replied. "I was just out here thinking is all."

"I see. I'll leave you then." Iya softly remarked and began to walk away.

"Wait!"

Stopping, he remained still with his back to the half neko. Hearing her step out of the water, it took all his will to not turn back towards her. "_She needs time to think before I do something stupid like that. I know what I want, and it's her, but until she's sure, I won't rush things._"

Shaken from his thoughts, he felt a warm wet hand caress the side of his face from behind. The feeling forced him to clench both hands, allowing him to keep from turning. Before he could do or say anything, the half neko was before him. Not wanting to compromise her modesty, he shut his eyes.

"_Why bother, I've seen her nude before._" he mentally berated himself.

In a soft, supple tone, Lilly said "Iya, it's alright."

"I'm sorry, I should go." he mumbled while trying to get his bearings.

Feeling a hand reach out for his own, he couldn't help but blush slightly at the feeling that erupted in his heart. Cracking his eyes open to look the neko hanyou in the face, he saw that she was blushing furiously, much like himself. Gently, she reached up to his face and cupped his cheek softly and warmly smiled.

"Iya, I want to be with you. I care… no, that's not right. I love you so very much, and I want to be with you. I wasn't sure before, but now I realize that I want to be with you more than anything else, so please, accept me. I want to be with you, and only you."

Surprised at her words, Iya felt his mind reeling slightly. "_She wants to be with me? That night, after the others had fallen asleep, I had told her I wanted to court with her, until we were ready to be true mates, if she so desired. Ever since, she's seemed unsure of herself. What could have changed I wonder?_"

Staring into Lilly's emerald eyes, he found nothing but love and devotion reflecting. In a mere whisper, she quietly said "I know I'm not worthy of being your mate, but I will try my hardest to be everything you want me to be."

Tenderly reaching out and cupping her cheek, Iya warmly smiled, softly saying "Lilly, I don't want you to change. I love you just the way you are."

Feeling her eyes grow misty, the neko hanyou relaxed more into the dog hanyou's touch. With a smile, the dog hanyou reached forward and gently placed a kiss onto the neko's lips. The kiss was soft at first, but slowly he revealed more emotion into it. The half neko responded with as much emotion while looping her arms around his neck.

At last, the pair came up for air while resting their foreheads against one another. First to pull back, Iya warmly smiled and said "Lilly, I want to be with you forever and always, and to never be with anyone else."

"I feel the same, Iya, and…"

Sensing her hesitation, Iya quietly asked "And?"

Gathering her courage, Lilly softly replied "And I want to mark you, so we can be lifetime mates."

Quickly, she added "But if you don't want to, I'm fine with…"

Before she could finish her words, she felt him plant another kiss onto her lips, instantly silencing her. Pulling back from the kiss, the half dog demon smiled and softly said "I want you to mark me also."

Smiling at the dog hanyou, she asked "Do we have to…"

"No, we don't have to have sex for you to mark me. It is more of an act that bonds the two together for when the male marks the female than the other way around." Iya informed.

Nodding with understanding, the half neko smiled and watched the dog hanyou gently move onto his knees. Following suit, the neko moved up closed to the dog hanyou, who exposed his neck. Leaning forward, she licked the juncture on the half dog demon's shoulder and neck a few times while feeling her fangs lengthening.

In a low whisper, she said "I'm sorry if this hurts."

With her words said, the neko hanyou sank her fangs into the juncture of Iya's shoulder and neck. He felt a small amount of pain, but nothing that he couldn't ignore. Removing her fangs, Lilly lapped up the blood that came from the wound, effectively sealing it shut. Both hanyou's demonic aura's instantly flared to life and began to swirl the pair. Slowly, the auras combined, each taking a bit of the other into one another.

The auras soon dissipated, leaving the pair on their knees still. Moving back to look Lilly in the face, Iya smiled and gently placed a feathery kiss on her lips. Pulling back, he softly said "I love you, Lilly."

"And I love you, Iya."


	59. Chapter 58: Realizations Confirmed

**Hey gang! Well, I had an excellent short vacation last week. Last Sunday, my family and I arrived in Pigeon Forge, TN. We toured around it via Trolley Bus for a while before going and eating dinner. I also visited a place or two I remembered from when I was a kid, which was fun. We also took in a show (Comedy Barn), which was a great show. I'd advise anyone going to Pigeon Forge to visit it if you're in the mood for a clean comedy show. The next day, we visited Dollywood, which was fun. I saw a few things I remembered as a kid, like the train. On our last day, my mate and step mom, along with my step brother, went shopping while my dad and I went for a walk for a while. When they came back, we took a trip up to Gatlinburg, which I had never been to before. It was nice up there. After that, we finally came home on Wednesday afternoon and celebrated my mate's birthday. She had a good one, I hope. At any rate, I got little rest, for the next morning, at 3:30, I headed off towards Dayton, OH, for a business trip. I was alone for once, which was different. Heh, I got time to think to myself and plan out some of my story I suppose, lol. At any rate, things went great up there, for we had a "play day" there, which was fun and all. Other than that, nothing else happened there. I came back Friday after a refreshing sleep. Nothing really happened over the weekend really, which was kind of good. I did finish my Christmas shopping at long last yesterday, so happy days! I had most of it done prior to then, but I picked up one last thing last night to complete it. Now I just have to get ready for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike Christmas, but I think it's over commercialized anymore. Plus the music drives me nuts after a while since they begin playing it in November. I do like Christmas, but it's just the way it's portrayed anymore. I know one person told me they should have a separate holiday for commercial Christmas and the true meaning of Christmas, but I think it should just stay the same. If you separate them, people will lose the complete meaning of it, which would suck. At any rate, I know I'm rambling on, so I'll just say this much, I have a crazy life when holidays come about. Too many people to visit, lol. Next year I'll just get bombs for them to lower the visits, hehe.**

**Writing wise, obviously I finished the chapter. I had most of it done last week over vacation and while at Dayton, but I had to force myself to finish yesterday due that I began thinking new stuff up during the weekend. At any rate, I should have another chapter within the next week or so.**

**Moving along, it's time once again. Yes, that lovely time called Review Time!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: Thank you as always for your review!**

**The Grieving General: LOL! Yes, the chapter was a bit mushy I suppose. Lol, you and your poor colon. True, a bit of fluffyness between the dog and cat, hehe. Kimi's real name, eh? Well, it'll be revealed. Just give it time, that is if Lilly decides to ever use it, hehe. No, Naraku is not making any comebacks, at least not in my story. I had thought of saying he had placed a portion of his soul within Kohaku, but no, that wouldn't really work. After all, Kikyo separated him from Naraku technically, plus her light from the Sacred Jewel shard would have killed off any remnants of his soul probably within Kohaku. But no, Byakuya's true goal has nothing to do with Naraku, technically. Heh, action and new characters, eh? Well, we'll see. Lol, cute joke. Thanks for the review!**

**inukagzrulez: Thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews this morning. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate them. I only hope you continue to like the new chapters I crank out.**

**Anyways, I'm done for today. Either I'll have a chapter or not next week. I'll let you guys know for sure. Thanks once more. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 58**

Listening to the sounds of the forest and the soft breathing of the group, Iya glanced around the campsite at each of the group. Across from him was the female bobcat mage, wrapped up in a blanket, with the quarter bobcat close by.

"_Ever since she woke up that night, Ichigo and Orihime seem to be getting closer. Still, she has those fitful dreams now. I guess so long as Ichigo can be near her and help her out, she'll be fine._"

Glancing up into a nearby tree, Iya lightly smiled at the sight of his younger silver haired brother asleep with his black haired mate laying back against him. The pair sat on a branch not too far up in the tree, but far enough up to keep them from danger.

Closing his eyes, he felt the woman in his lap shift slightly and snuggle deeper into the solitary blanket that was covering his and her body up against his chest, causing him to reopen his eyes and cast his brown eyes down at her. Looking at her, he smiled softly at the serene face of his mate.

"_Human or half demon, she still looks so beautiful. Thank Kami that I managed to keep my promise to her that she'd be able to see the sun rise once again with her human eyes._"

Taking another longingly glance at his mate, he added "_I just don't have the heart to wake her for the sun rising though. I guess I'll wake her for the next sunrise._"

Gently picking his mate up, he softly laid her down onto the ground and tucked the blanket Kagome had given the pair around her tightly. For a moment, Lilly seemed to search for Iya's warm body, but settled and snuggled into the blanket instead.

Feeling a pang of guilt for leaving the comfort of his mate, Iya pushed it aside in his mind and began walking out of the camp. As he walked underneath of the tree his brother and mate slept in, he heard a voice speak up.

"Where you off to?"

Glancing up into the tree, the hanyou turned human saw his brother had an eye cracked open and was looking down at him.

Shrugging, Iya nonchalantly replied "I'm just going to get ready for the day by getting cleaned up. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can handle myself while still in human form."

"Just don't die at the hands of a weak demon. It would be heartbreaking to tell Lilly and especially irritating to tell Sesshomaru."

Quietly chuckling at his brother's comment, Iya continued walking on out of camp and onwards towards a nearby stream. "_That should do nicely for getting cleaned up. I'll wait till the sun is up before I jump in, that way it won't be so bad._"

Nearly to the stream, he glanced off in the direction of where the sun would rise soon, only to find a figure standing in a distance. Squinting, the human hanyou's eyes widened instantly while his breath hitched in his throat.

The figure was a young woman with butt length black hair that had a bluish tint to it, cream colored skin, a slender body, and striking violet eyes. She wore a long white skirt that came up to her stomach and reached her feet, but the skirt didn't cling to her body, a white blouse with no sleeves that came to just above her stomach, and white gloves with her fingers exposed that came up to her upper arms where the sleeve like gloves ended and three leather straps appeared. Over the skirt around her hips was a leather strip that followed the curve of her hips. In the strip was a beautifully crafted sword with a red hilt, a set of wing like guards with twisted metal reaching just a bit into the hilt where the blade connected. The remainder of the sword was slender, but appeared rather sharp.

Staring at the young woman, Iya felt the image of a similar young woman float to the top of his mind. The young woman of his memories, along with the one near him, looked nearly identical, with the exception of the clothing.

"_But it can't be... I thought she was a half demon, or I thought it last time I thought I saw her. She had on the exact same clothing, meaning one thing: that this is her night of weakness, like myself and Lilly._"

Remaining where she stood, the young woman smirked and turned away from the black haired human and began to walk off. Watching this, Iya snapped out of his daze and began walking after the young woman.

"Kaia, wait!"

Ignoring his request, the young woman picked up speed. Lightly growling to himself, the young man did the same and yelled out again "Wait Kaia! Please, just wait!"

Watching the woman only pick up more speed, Iya matched it, keeping him a distance behind her. She soon came to a dead stop on a small ridge with a tree behind her, causing him to do the same.

Lightly panting, he stared into her violet eyes, hoping to find some sort of familiar emotions that he had once seen, only to find instead anger and hatred filling them. Before he could speak, the sun rose up over the hill, causing both humans' bodies to pulsate. Their fangs and claws each grew back out to their appropriate length, with each of their ears sucking in and dog ears sprouting a top their head. The female hanyou's black hair changed color in a flash from black to a dark blue. Each of their eyes changed color as well, with the male hanyou's turning from brown to a muddy brown color and the female's going from violet to a dark brown.

Feeling his transformation stop, Iya took a step forward slowly, softly saying "Kaia, it was you after all…"

Before he could continue, a new scent filled his nose, forcing him to leap backwards into the air about five feet. Glancing up while keeping his hand on the hilt of Ketsaiga, he growled lowly while a new figure stepped out from behind the tree the female hanyou stood before.

Moving to before the female hanyou was a man with long midnight black hair that fell to his mid-back in length. A few strands of his hair formed bangs that hung loosely in his face from a white ornament that was in his hair that had three grooves. On the side of his head, a similar ornament was worn, but it only had two grooves. His ears were pointed, signifying he was a demon, and his eyes were gray. He wore a white scarf around his neck that trailed behind himself, a white outer vest that reached a half a foot above the ground, with a black kimono top and black pants with a white obi, and a set of white socks with sandaled feet. In his obi, a single white handled sword with a square shaped guard and white sheath stuck out.

Staring emotionlessly at Iya, the demon calmly said "Iya Taisho, so we meet at last."

"Byakuya Kuchiki…" Iya mumbled while keeping his eyes trained on the demon before him. "I should be honored, I suppose."

"Indeed." Byakuya remarked.

Glancing between the wolf mage and the female dog hanyou, Iya calmly said "I see, so it is true that Kaia is your slave. I didn't think it was possible, but I see I was mistaken now."

Making a series of hand signs, the mage turned away from the male dog hanyou. With the mage finishing, a light blue glowing portal appeared before the wolf demon.

Turning to the female hanyou, Byakuya emotionlessly said "Kaia, come."

"Yes, Master Byakuya."

Watching the pair moving towards the portal, Iya hesitantly began to move, but forced himself to keep from running after the wolf demon and dog hanyou. Finally, he spoke up, calling out "Kaia, wait, don't go!"

Stopping in mid-step, Kaia glanced over her shoulder and evilly smirked, saying "At one time I may have listened to you, Iya, but those days are long gone. Next time we meet, I will make sure that I never have to see you again. Trust me, you will suffer for all that you have done, Iya Taisho."

With her words said, the female dog hanyou walked into the blue shimmering portal, closely followed behind by the wolf demon who did or said nothing to the remaining black haired hanyou. The portal immediately flickered and shut behind the wolf demon, leaving the hanyou by himself.

Releasing his grip on Ketsaiga, Iya dropped his trembling hands to his side. Without warning, he felt his knees give out a moment later, sending him crashing to them while he fell upon his hands. Tears began forming within his eyes while he glanced up once more to make sure no one was around. Finding no signs of the female dog hanyou or the wolf demon, he allowed his tears to slowly slip down his face and onto the ground.

"_Kaia, will I forever be haunted by you and the memories of what I did to you!? I'm so sorry… I can never say that enough in my mind for what I did. If only I could show you how sorry I am._"

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"_Why is he avoiding me?_"

Releasing a suppressed sigh while staring up at the night sky, Lilly let her emerald eyes glance out over the vast forest before her. Stretching out with her senses, she attempted to ignore the thoughts in her mind by filling them with guessing what was in the forest. She immediately failed when the scent of a familiar half demon filled her nose.

Letting out another sigh, she leaned back against the truck of the tree she sat in and closed her emerald eyes. "_I can't imagine what happened. For the last two days, he's been so quiet and unemotional. Why he is like this, I don't know? I thought once we had mated, he would tell me anything that was bothering him. But instead, he's kept it from me. What do I do?_"

"Yo."

Startled from her thoughts and jumping slightly, the half neko glanced to her left, finding the orange haired quarter demon looking at her with his brown eyes. "Ichigo, you scared me half to death."

"Sorry about that, but you should be more alert. After all, I could have been a demon looking for a meal." Ichigo nonchalantly replied.

Biting her lower lip, Lilly whispered in reply "I suppose…"

"So, what brings you out here alone?"

Sighing softly, the neko hanyou glanced back out at the forest and mumbled "Don't worry yourself about it."

Feeling the limb she was on bob slightly, she noted that the quarter bobcat was only a few feet away from her on the same limb she sat on. "Lilly, I'm not one to usually go the extra mile, but I'm going to this time. What's wrong? I know something is. For the last two days, you've been at the back of the group and seemingly depressed, plus you've been lagging behind us at that."

"I'm sorry…"

Crossing his arms and scowling, the quarter bobcat grunted out "Don't apologize, just explain what's going on."

Silence filled the air for a few moments, irritating the quarter bobcat a bit more. Just as he began to grumble something, the half neko muttered "I've been worried about Iya, alright."

Looking up at the quarter demon with glassy emerald eyes, she added "Ever since two days ago, he's been so distant and seemingly emotionless. It's like he doesn't care about me anymore…"

"Whatever caused it happened sometime between the night we became human once more and that morning, because when he returned to camp that morning, he began acting the way he is."

Watching the neko draw her knees up to her chest and rest her chin on top of them, the quarter demon took in the scent of salt filling the air. In a soft tone, he quietly murmured "Lilly…"

"I just wish I knew what was wrong." Lilly whispered while pulling her face into her knees. In a muffled sound, she added "I know something is wrong. Something that is troubling him and worrying him is causing him to avoid any contact with me, and I just want to know what."

Feeling a hand clasp her shoulder, the half neko weakly glanced up to see it was the hand of the quarter demon, who wore a sympathetic look. "I wish I could help you, but I truthfully don't know what has happened."

"Even after traveling with him for twenty years, it's hard to read Iya's emotions." Ichigo added with a small chuckle. "I figured by now I might pick up on them, but he's difficult to read. When everything is fine, he allows his emotions to be visible, but when something is troubling him, he becomes as almost emotionless as Sesshomaru."

"But why does he do it, Ichigo? Doesn't he know how much I worry about him?"

Giving a sympathetic smile, the quarter bobcat replied "He does it to protect us from what he worries about. To him, he's keeping us safe from what he knows."

Letting out a sigh, the bobcat continued on, saying "But he's worrying us more than he should over what he does. True, he is protecting us from what he knows, but at the same time, he adds worry to us over what is wrong with him. I don't think he knows that, that's why he has continued doing this."

"Plus, don't forget, he was alone for the most part over the course of the last two-hundred-twenty-five years. I only met up with him twenty years ago, so he's still trying to learn to deal with hiding things."

Wryly smiling, he added "And then there is you. Mating with you has made him think that much more and be extremely protective of you. I'm sure now that I think about it, whatever is worrying him has to do with keeping you safe. So try not to worry too much about him. He's strong and can take care of himself."

"I guess…"

Using the sleeves of her kimono top to dry her eyes, the neko sighed and muttered "I just wish he would let me help him."

"I know, but it's just his way of making sure nothing happens to you. Like I said, I wouldn't worry about him." Ichigo remarked. Pausing for a moment, he added "But the one thing I'm sure you can do for him is simple. Just believe in him. That's all he needs from you, trust me."

Processing the quarter bobcat's words, the neko hanyou nodded slightly. Smiling at that, the quarter bobcat turned and began to leap off the limb, but stopped. "You may want to wash your face before you go back to camp, so he doesn't smell your tears."

"Right…" Lilly murmured. "Thank you, Ichigo."

"Heh, it's nothing. Just don't let what is happening worry you too much. I'm sure he has a good reason for keeping it bottled up. You know he loves you, right?"

Looking up at the quarter demon with a small smile, the neko casually replied "Of course I know, silly. We're mates, and no matter what, I'll always love him."

"Good, because he needs you more than you know." Ichigo remarked. Glancing over his shoulder, he said "I'm going now. Don't take too long."

Receiving a conformation in the form of a nod, the quarter bobcat leapt from the branch, leaving the neko by herself. Remaining sitting for another minute alone, the half neko finally stood up and leapt from the tree and softly landed on the ground. "I guess I should get back."

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Slowly trekking towards the camp site, Lilly took in the scents of the night and twitched her ears to find if anything was off. Finding nothing, she continued onwards, only to pick up a familiar scent of cinnamon and woods.

She quickly found the source of it in the form of her mate walking towards her slowly. His expression was one of a bit of concern. He quickly replaced it with a warm smile, saying "I was just looking for you. You've been gone a while."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Lilly quietly replied.

Hesitating for a moment, Iya mumbled back "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm…"

Before he could continue, the half neko placed her index finger over his lips, effectively silencing the dog hanyou. "Before you begin, I want you to know something."

Taking a small breath, Lilly slowly said "Iya, I know the last few days something has been troubling you to the point that you've become distant from me and the others, as well as restraining your emotions. I was upset about it earlier, but I realized something."

"I realized that whatever is bothering you this much is something you wish to protect the others, as well as me, from it. Because of that, I've decided that it's alright if you want to not tell us. If it's something that worrisome, then I understand."

Taking hold of his clawed hand with her own, she tenderly added "But know this: I will always love you and stand by your side. You are my mate, and no matter what, whether what you do is right or wrong, I will stand beside of you."

Shocked by his mate's words, the dog hanyou began to reply, but stopped himself. Reaching up and cupping her cheek, he softly whispered "Thank you for understanding, Lilly."

Feeling his mate relax into his touch, the male hanyou sighed contently. "_I wish I could tell you about me seeing Kaia and Byakuya the other night, but Kaia's final words still worry me. She wishes to slay me. Long ago, before I mated with Lilly, I would have no doubt accepted her threat and allowed her to do so to repay what I've done to her. But now that Lilly and I are lifetime mates, I could never allow Kaia to kill me, for to do so would kill Lilly also, and that is something I could never let happen, no matter how much guilt I feel for what happened to Kaia so long ago._"

"_If Kaia found out that I have mated with Lilly, she may target her directly instead, and I can't risk losing Lilly to her. I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect my mate. No matter what, I won't allow her to harm her._"

Feeling his hand empty, the dog hanyou snapped out of his thoughts, only to feel himself be pulled into a warm embrace by the half neko. Standing onto her toes, she reached up and brushed her lips against his. Fully awakened from his thoughts, he pressed back and licked her lips, asking silently for permission, which he was granted immediately. Deepening the kiss, the dog hanyou felt the neko loop her arms around his neck while he pulled her closer to his body.

At last, the pair came up for air a minute later, with each slightly panting and resting their foreheads against one another. Each half demons' cheeks were flushed, with the neko's more so than the dog's.

In a sweet, soft whisper, Lilly said "I love you, Iya Taisho."

"And I love you, Lilly Taisho."

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Sipping from a cup that contained clear looking liquid, the white haired dog demon glanced up at the moon and sadly smiled. Raising his left hand, he glanced over at it to find a small piece of silver that was shaped in the form of a fox. Staring at it, his eyes became slightly glassy. Downing the clear liquid, he lowered his hand and reached over for the bottle that sat next to him on the ground.

"So there you are." a male voice spoke up.

Glancing to his left side, the mage saw the black haired dog demon mage approaching him. Not responding, the white haired mage poured more clear liquid into his cup and set the bottle back down wordlessly.

Reaching the white haired mage, Ryo asked "May I sit?"

"Why not…" Jiraiya grunted in an irritable tone.

Recognizing the irritability in the dog demon's tone, Ryo hesitated, but decided to sit near the white haired mage anyways. Glancing up at the night sky himself, the black haired mage asked "Why are you out here by yourself?"

Pondering on the words of the black haired mage, the white haired mage rolled around possible answers within his mind. "_I don't want to tell him the truth, but should I lie, he'll know since he is able to detect my scent. I suppose I'll just have to use a half truth._"

"I just wanted to get away from everyone, that's all."

Detecting no shift in the mage's scent that would give him a hint to whether the mage was telling the truth or not, Ryo nodded and quietly said "Yeah, it's nice to get away from everyone once and a while."

An eerie silence came over the pair for a minute before Jiraiya irritably asked "What do you want, Ryo of the Wildfire?"

A touch shocked at the fact the mage was using his honorific title, Ryo remained silent for a moment before saying "I just came to talk with you. Ever since you two joined our group, you seemed to shy away from me, or seem to have something against me. I was just curious to why."

Chuckling to himself, Jiraiya downed the clear liquid in his cup in a single gulp and wistfully said "Isn't it easy to see why I have no desire to be near you? I'd think you could see it clearly."

"I don't understand." the black haired mage replied with confusion in his voice.

Pouring himself some more liquid from his bottle, the white haired mage grunted out "I guess I have to spell it out. You're taking from me that which is the last of my family."

Frowning, Ryo asked "What do you mean?"

"Ack, you are so dumb. How you became a master of the Armor of Wildfire is beyond even my comprehension." the white haired mage grumbled. "I speak of how Tsunade and you spend a lot of time together. That is what I mean."

Glancing at the white haired mage, the black haired mage asked "But what has that got to do with it?"

"Are you just trying to piss me off now?" Jiraiya growled. "Because if you are, you're doing one hell of a job at it!"

Releasing a small sigh, Ryo calmly replied "I'm not trying to anger you. I just don't see what you're talking about. How is Tsunade and I spending time together…"

Stopping in midsentence, the black haired dog demon realized what the mage was insinuating. He quickly turned towards the mage, saying "Oh, I understand now what you mean. My apologies, but we are not doing anything that would take her away from you. We're just merely talking, so don't worry."

"Merely talking, eh?" Jiraiya questioned.

Meekly nodding, Ryo replied "Only talking."

Taking a deep breath and sighing, the black haired mage added "Besides, not like she would want to be with someone who has possession of the Wildfire Armor. It was my master and his allies that agreed with the former Western Lord for her clan, along with your own, to leave the Western Lands. That's the truth as to why you can't stand to be near me, isn't it?"

Processing the words of the black haired dog demon, the white haired demon slightly smirked and dug into his right sleeve with his left hand. Finding what he sought, he pulled out another saucer like cup and set it next to the one he had been using. Pouring the clear liquid into the new cup, he set his bottle down and picked up the cup. Offering it to the black haired mage, he calmly said "Here, take this."

"But why?"

"Just take the sake."

Frowning slightly, Ryo took the cup and stared down at the clear liquid. Jiraiya in turn picked up his own cup and sipped it. Glancing over at black haired mage, he asked "Aren't you going to drink with me? It's not poisonous you know."

Shaking from his stupor, the black haired mage slightly smiled and sipped some of the clear liquid. "I don't understand, why are you giving me a drink?"

"Heh, you're a fool to think I care about what our father's or other distant relatives did so long ago to one another." the white haired mage remarked. "I understand that the clan Tsunade and I hail from did deserve to be banished from the Western Lands, so I don't hold a grudge against you for it."

Filling his cup once more, Jiraiya added "Besides, I'm the one who should be a touch sorry I guess. After all, I accused you of something you weren't doing."

"You mean you thought I was taking Tsunade?"

Shrugging, Jiraiya calmly replied "I wasn't sure. You see, everyone I've ever cared about has slowly slipped away. I lost my parents long ago, but I managed. Eventually, Tsunade mated with another dog demon, who became like a brother to me. In the end though, we lost him too, which broke Tsunade's heart into millions of pieces. She's still never fully recovered from that."

Glancing up at the sky, he added "Then there was one slave that I loved. Before the slavery spell took full effect, I realized this and freed her. It also happened that she was pregnant with my pup before I freed her, which helped in me making my decision."

"I never knew." Ryo mumbled.

Slightly chuckling while downing more sake, the white haired mage replied "That's because this happened long before that runt began chasing after us."

Pausing for a moment, the mage added "Yes, she was a real beauty. In truth, I came out here to think about her. She died on this day, so long ago."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" the black haired mage apologetically murmured.

Waving him off, the white haired mage replied "It doesn't matter. I just do this once a year, in memory of her, of Kyoko. Before my spell was complete, she had become pregnant with my pup. That's when I realized I wanted her as a mate, not a slave. So I freed her."

Chuckling once more, he added "Byakuya was furious that I did such a thing. He wanted me to get rid of her, or the pup, and finish the spell. I refused, saying I would not do such a thing. In the end, he gave in, but it was an uphill struggle to get that."

The smile on the mage's face soon faded when he continued with sadness in his voice. "It's a shame that only a month later, she died. Tsunade and Byakuya's slave had just checked up on her the day before we set out on a journey together. Along the way, a crazed eagle demon attacked the two of us. The eagle demon killed her without any provocation. He just did it to kill her. It still eludes me to why."

"Possibly she did something to him prior to meeting him?" Ryo asked.

Shaking his head, Jiraiya replied "Not likely. She was in a human village that rarely dealt with demons, nor did demons go out of their way to visit her village. Like I said, the demon just attacked for no reason."

"That's a shame." the black haired dog demon remarked.

Nodding in reply, the white haired mage replied "I miss her quite often. I've never had another slave that made me feel the way she did. When I took her as a slave, she wasn't afraid. In fact, she didn't mind at all and had willingly become my slave. When I asked her later after freeing her, she told me she wasn't afraid of me, that she felt she should be with me."

"Sounds like you met your soul mate." the black haired dog demon commented.

Stopping from downing the cup of clear liquid, the white haired demon quietly said "I wish I could have saved her. That eagle demon paid with his life, but still, he attacked for no reason. I just wish I knew why he did so."

Silence enveloped the two till Ryo raised his cup, saying "A toast, to your fallen loved one. May she always remain in your heart."

Lightly smiling, Jiraiya nodded and downed his sake, along with Ryo.

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Moving his group along at a casual pace, the silver haired demon lord glanced around at the area they walked through. "_My lands appear to have not been defiled while this Sesshomaru was away._"

Picking up his pace and moving to the front of the group, the black haired dog demon came up to beside of the demon lord and calmly said "We've been in the Western Lands for a few days, yet no sign of Iya or the others."

"This Sesshomaru's brother will show himself when he is ready."

"Assuming he beat Kenshin and Kurama." Ryo remarked.

Raising an elegant silver eyebrow, Sesshomaru impassively asked "Do you doubt that this Sesshomaru's little brother does not have the skills necessary to combat those two mages?"

Chuckling softly, the black haired mage shook his head, replying "No, I don't doubt his skill. He's powerful, even if he is just a half demon. Iya can stand toe to toe with any full demon. It's not that that I'm commenting on anyways."

"Then get to the point." the stoic demon lord sternly commanded.

Slightly chuckling mentally, the mage calmly said "I was just commenting that something could have happened. Don't forget, we were attacked by that sand demon, Gaara of the Desert. Iya could have likely been attacked by someone else also. I only hope that his group did in fact survive and took down those two mages. I just worry that some of them may have not made it."

"Then you are a fool." the silver haired dog demon bluntly replied, earning him a surprised look from the black haired mage. "This Sesshomaru's brother would never allow any of his pack to be harmed. He would protect them with his life. This Sesshomaru has no doubt that his little brother has succeeded in his duty."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Ryo smirked and casually said "That's a surprise. From what I remember, you rarely have said anything good about Iya since the day he left to face off with the mages. Now you have confidence in him?"

"Do not mistake this Sesshomaru, he has the utmost confidence in his brother."

Shaking his head and mentally chuckling, the mage began to say something when he suddenly came to a dead stop, much like the demon lord. The pair began sniffing the air, as well as extending their senses.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin quietly spoke up when she noted the pair of dog demons had stopped.

Raising a hand to silence her, the demon lord cast his golden eyes off in the direction of a nearby mountain. Staring at it, he hardened his eyes.

Noting where the demon lord was looking, the black haired mage did the same, while the other two mages followed suit.

"He's finally come out of hiding." Jiraiya mumbled.

Nodding mutely, the blonde haired mage cast her own golden eyes at the mountain. "There is no doubt, he's there, waiting for us apparently, if not calling for us."

"It would be a shame to disappoint." Ryo interjected. Casting a glance at the demon lord, he asked "Wouldn't you say, Lord Sesshomaru?"

Changing direction to face the mountain, the demon lord coldly said "That mage will pay for his foolishness in stepping within the Western Lands once more."

With his words spoke, the silver haired dog demon began trekking towards the mountain with the group following behind him.

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Resting by a stream, the pack of four half demons, single bobcat mage, and lone quarter demon quietly chatted among themselves. The sun was out and bright, keeping the temperatures warm.

"We're a ways back in the Western Lands at long last, thankfully." Iya commented.

With a small smile, Kagome casually said "I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever return."

"I guess we did have quite a few interruptions along on our trip." Lilly remarked with a knowing smirk.

Nodding, Ichigo grunted out "At least we got rid of two of those mages."

Crossing his arms, Inuyasha added "With any luck, our jackass brother and our friends got rid of the other four."

"Which means only Byakuya Kuchiki is the lone mage living." Orihime pointed out.

With her last statement, the group became quiet. Getting ready to speak up, the black haired dog hanyou stopped when he picked up a new scent from the air.

"It… it can't be…" he mumbled with a bit of shock while turning towards a nearby mountain.

Frowning at his brother's words, the silver haired hanyou began to say something, only to be stopped by his brother standing instantly. Glancing at the others, the black haired dog hanyou firmly said "Get ready to move out. It seems as though we're being summoned."

"Summoned?" Orihime asked with confusion on her face.

"Can't you sense that powerful demonic aura in the air?" Iya asked. "It's faint, but nearby. And then there is the scent I just picked up. He's near."

Confused, the neko hanyou asked "He who?"

In a cold tone while gripping the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly, Iya murmured "Byakuya Kuchiki."


	60. Chapter 59: Revealed Reasons

**Hey gang! Well, I've had an interesting last few weeks. Let's see, to start off with, last Monday, when I was due to go back to work, I woke up with the stomach flu. Somehow or another, I managed to keep from puking, a feat in itself, lol. Anyways, it was a 24 hour bug, so by the end of Monday, I was feeling better. Tuesday, I still had a fever, but went in anyways. I was back to normal by the end of Wednesday I believe. At any rate, I got New Years and that Friday off to relax, plus the weekend, which was nice. On Saturday though, my mate came down with the same thing I had had. Thankfully, she was better on Sunday and decided to go to work. Then Monday rolled around, with me getting up and discovering after I began to move around an intense cramping pain in the middle of my body, just below my chest and above my stomach. It hurt quite a bit, so I decided to make a run to the ER. Of course, naturally, time I got there, the pain was easing off and nearly gone. While there though, it did come back. They did some x-rays, which was fun to get to ride around in a wheelchair. Anyways, the doctor said my liver enzymes were up a bit, which could mean 2 things. The first was from where I was sick the week before with the stomach flu. The second though meant my gallbladder was acting up, which of course concerned me since my mom has had hers out. They did an ultrasound to make sure if anything was wrong, but found nothing. So, I got put on some meds for a few days, plus a 24 hour clear liquid diet, with also orders to watch what I eat temporarily, just to make sure, and to follow up with my doctor. And that leads me to here today. I'm fine still, so no worries. I even went to work after the visit, so all went well. Btw, just so everyone knows, I hate chicken noodle soup with a vengeance now, lol. I was stuck on it last week to get better, and once more forced into it this week. Oh well, anyways, I'm fine, although my mate complained of the same thing yesterday, which leads me to think it may have been something else. I don't know. So confusing…**

**At any rate, writing wise, things are moving along fine. I continue to have great writing sessions on this story when I find time, so that's always good to know. Again, I think this story will be over in ten chapters or less, but we'll see. After that, well, we'll just see what happens. I won't rule out a sequel, but I won't confirm it either. Just so much stuff going on, lol.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**CJ – Lady of Gryffindor: LOL! Yeah, you see now, hehe. True, those slow days do happen to everyone on occasion. I've been known to have a few myself, hehe. Yeah, the last two chapters have been quiet, but business seems to be picking up. Heh, oh well, the action is back. Thanks for the review!**

**The Grieving General: Yep, it's fight time with Byakuya. Lol, you're dead set on seeing Ichigo lose control and causing Shiro to emerge, aren't you? Just playing with you. Never know, Shiro could appear, or he could be just not in the story, this time or ever. True, having Sesshomaru and Byakuya going at it could be interesting. Neither show their emotions, or rarely do, so it would be interesting to see the two icy figures fight it out. Of course, the others may mind, hehe, as well as Sesshomaru since the whole problem of Byakuya still being alive is kind of Iya's fault. I'm sure it would break Sesshomaru's heart to have to clean up another mess for his little brother, lol. Heh, thanks about the unpredictability. I've tried is all I can say. There is some wrapping up, that is true. Lol, someone needs to be pregnant? Heh, true, there wasn't any birth control back then, other than killing the pregnant part of course. LOL! Your math on what a child would be between a pair of half demons is a bit off. If you had a half demon and a half demon have a kid together, the child would be half demon. The kid would inherit half of it's humanity from both parents, and half of it's demonic power from it's parents. It'd be like having 2 humans have a kid, making them a full human, and same with demons. Of course, things would get interesting if the two having a kid together were a half demon and a full demon. Then you get a ¾ demon. Thus far, there has only been technically one of them in this story, though he's also technically not since his mother was human on that certain night she and his father came together. Ok, enough math comments and reminding of who the ¾ demon of this story is. As far as pregnancies go, never know. There is one thing that is disputed over demons, and that is that they have fewer children than humans. Mix that in with the possibilities of what a half demon may do, well, you just never know. Btw, the heat that Sango experienced wasn't the kind of heat you're thinking of, like the one that causes her to become pregnant. Well, it sort of was, but sort of not. Demons are more likely to get pregnant during a heat, but not always. The kind of heat she was going through is one that most fox demons have, which is just a drive to have sex. Pregnancy can occur from the encounters, but not always. Anyways, if she was pregnant, or any of the others, I'm sure someone would be able to figure it out by certain things, with scent being one of them. As for gestation periods, they are slightly different, depending on what is being carried. For the most part, I have read that humans go 9 months, full demons 5 months. Half demons are somewhere in between, more than likely 7 months. That's what I've determined at the least, and what I'll use, should I ever do have a story with a pregnant demon, half demon, or human, or whatever they are. Btw, about you thinking Kaia had a kid, wouldn't she have let someone know, or wouldn't the kid have showed up by now? Just commenting on that. That is a good point, but as for if it's true or not, who knows. She has yet to declare it or make it known, if it happened. True, sounds like a real soap opera. As for a sequel, you never know. I may, or I may not. Nothing is set in stone yet. The story may provide the opportunity. No, **_**Another **_**and **_**Minutes to Midnight **_**are not going to end my story writing days. I have far too many ideas for it to be the end. **_**MtM**_** marks the end of my Yugioh series that I wrote up, but the end of me writing Yugioh fan fics, eh, that one is up in the air still yet. And **_**Another**_** doesn't mark the end of me doing Inuyasha stories either. I may do another, lol, no pun intended. I also want to branch out into Naruto and Bleach possibly, but we'll see. At any rate, I think I'm finally through your review. It was a bit long, but I don't mind. I enjoyed answering it. Thanks for the review!**

**Bookworm810: Thanks. No problem about sending you the PM about the chapter update. I know 's alert system sometimes malfunctions and doesn't work right, which is irritating. Thanks for the review!**

**Kattana: Heh, yeah, Byakuya seems to wish to fight, unlike how Naraku would just keep hiding and sending more forces out to fight, only to have them destroyed, hehe. Hmm, true, things are getting worrisome. A trick, eh? Never know. Yeah, it was a bit sad about Jiraiya losing his lover from long ago, but he seems to be moving forward, somewhat. Byakuya had something to do with it, eh? Never know about that one. He could have, or not. Heh, yeah, Sesshomaru does have faith in his brothers. I'm sure that made him ache to say that, lol. Thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's it everyone. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews! I really appreciated them. It's always wonderful to hear what you all have to say and think about my story. I will continue to try and keep updating this story in a timely fashion, with only being minimal lulls in between.**

**This week's chapter is dedicated to my grandfather (mom's side), who is turning 80 today. I'm going to go see him tonight, so I thought I'd dedicate this for him. Thank you all, once again, for your kind reviews. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. At any rate, enjoy! **

**Chapter 59**

Racing towards the strong demonic aura and scent of the final mage, Iya glanced back at the group following him and sensed the tenseness within each. Both his brother and long time partner were each gripping the hilts of their swords, while the two former humans turned hanyous were keeping their eyes locked dead ahead, and finally the female bobcat mage seemed to be in deep thought.

"_I don't blame any of them. This battle promises to be something fierce._"

Glancing back ahead, the black haired dog hanyou sniffed the air once more, searching for a familiar scent, but didn't find it once more. "_I know she has to be with him. If we destroy Byakuya, I have no doubt Kaia will be forced out of hiding. I don't want her to have to suffer like that, but I'll have no choice but to allow that if we can't find her. Perhaps if we can find her before then, I can…_"

"_Such foolishness…_" the hanyou grumbled within his mind. "_Like I can do anything to help her now that she is Byakuya's slave. There is no chance of saving her, unless Byakuya releases her from his spell, but I don't know if there is a reversal spell at that. If there is, it's not likely he'll allow her to be free._"

Returning his full attention to the matter at hand, the dog hanyou stretched out with his senses once more. Picking up familiar scents and demonic auras, the hanyou slightly smiled, but frowned when he detected two others that he was semi-familiar mingled in with the ones he knew.

"_Why do I sense those two mages with the others? Surely they didn't capture them and take them as prisoners, did they? No, Sesshomaru wouldn't bother dragging two prisoners along with him to the Western Lands for a trial. He'd have dealt with them at the time he fought them. Does that mean they're possibly helping the others, or what does it mean?_"

"Iya, I can smell our prick of a brother. Guess he got the job done, eh?" Inuyasha brashly commented, breaking the black haired dog hanyou out of his thoughts.

Glancing over his shoulder at his silver haired brother, the black haired hanyou slightly smirked and nodded, saying "Yeah, it seems so. I can sense all of the others with him, but the puzzling thing is I can sense two of the mages that they went after with them too."

Frowning, Lilly spoke up, asking "Why would they be with them?"

"I'm not sure. Sesshomaru isn't one to take prisoners, unless necessary. Besides, he'd have dispensed their sentence more than likely instead. My only guess is they're possibly helping the others." the black haired dog hanyou commented.

Casting a small glance at his partner, the orange haired quarter bobcat grunted out "It doesn't matter what they're doing. The only person I'm concerned with at the moment is that final mage, who has the balls to call us out."

Nodding in reply, Iya slowly replied "Yeah, it is odd that Byakuya would bother to bring us to him. Every time we would ever get close to him, or attempt to confront him and the other mages, he would brush us off as insects and retreat. Now, he's prepared to fight us, which makes me wonder why. It's unlike him to be willing to confront us."

"It's probably due that we kicked all of those other mages' asses!" Inuyasha smugly chimed in.

Shaking his head, the black haired dog hanyou began to answer, but was cut off by the female bobcat. "It doesn't make any sense though. Byakuya has always been one to not care if the other mages died or not. His actions prove that much. So, the idea that now that the others are all gone he wishes to fight is kind of farfetched."

"Agreed, Byakuya never cared about the others." Ichigo added. "After all, he never did try to fend off our attacks with all of The Thirteen's true power. If he had, he'd have killed one or both of us off quite a while back."

"So, that only leads us back to the question at hand, why is he revealing himself now?" Kagome commented.

Keeping his vision focused ahead, Iya slowly replied "I'm not sure. At any rate, Kagome and Lilly, be careful in this fight. Who knows what this mage is up to and is capable of. Remember your training and you should be fine."

Pausing for a moment, the black haired dog hanyou added "But should the battle begin to go bad, I want all of you to retreat. I'll keep Byakuya at bay while you all pull out."

"What are you talking about Iya?" Inuyasha gruffly asked. "We're not about to leave you behind, only to let you die. We'll stand our ground, together."

Remaining quiet for a moment, the black haired dog hanyou finally replied "You don't understand Inuyasha. I won't allow that mage to kill off any of you. Stopping Byakuya and the other mages has been my responsibility for the last two and a half centuries, and I have no intention of losing any of you because of my inability to…"

"Oh get over yourself!" the silver haired hanyou angrily spat out. "We've come too far to let you think this is your entire fault for not stopping the mages. You and I are brothers, so I am duty bound to help you out. Besides that fact, we're a pack, and packs fight together. If one of us is in trouble, we all help out that one. Get it through that thick skull of yours!"

"_Pack? He actually considers me as a pack member?_" the black haired hanyou mumbled within his mind in shock.

Glancing at the back of her mate, Lilly mentally said "_No matter what Iya, I won't leave this fight. I will stay by your side till the end._"

"I understand, Inuyasha…" Iya quietly commented. "But I would rather all of you live."

Growling lightly, the silver haired hanyou sped up and gripped his brother's shoulder, forcing the black haired hanyou to look back. "Have you forgotten that you have a lifetime mate!? You can't expect us to leave you, only to lose her as well. So don't even think that we'll let you go off and die by yourself!"

Taken back by his brother's words, the black haired hanyou began to slow, but quickly recovered his speed. Glancing over his shoulder at the face of his mate, then to his half brother, the hanyou slightly smiled. "I see. Then together, we'll beat Byakuya."

"Damn straight!" Inuyasha confirmed.

Slightly smiling still, the black haired hanyou returned his full attention to the path before the group. "Then let's go take down this mage, together!"

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Inhaling the air around him, the black haired dog hanyou slid his muddy brown eyes to his left, finding a familiar silver haired dog demon leading a group coming into view. Their eyes connected for only a moment, causing the full blooded dog demon to move closer to the group following the black haired dog hanyou.

Moving up beside of the black haired dog hanyou, the silver haired dog demon curtly nodded his head, saying "Little brother."

"Big brother." the hanyou remarked. "It's good to see you were successful in your venture."

"This Sesshomaru would never fail at such a trivial task. The snake mages were dealt with accordingly."

Nodding in reply, Iya glanced towards the two dog mages that were following close by and asked "Did you pick up a few new prisoners, or allies?"

"Very funny…" the white haired dog mage grunted. "We are allies, whether we like it or not."

Raising an eyebrow, the black haired hanyou asked "Is that so? Why is it you wish to help then?"

Sighing slightly, Jiraiya replied "It's rather simple. Byakuya lied to us all. He told us that we would destroy the rulers of the Four Lands and then unite them into one nation. Once that was done, we would be there to protect the people as guardians."

"That plan sounds flawed." Iya commented. "A single one of the Four Lands is hard enough to run from what I've seen when I watched my father and brother do it, let alone all of four of them united."

"Yeah, now in hindsight, it does look more difficult." Jiraiya mumbled. "At any rate, that was the plan, but it was never put in effect. We had numerous opportunities when each of the Four Lands were at their weakest, yet we did nothing. Byakuya would just brush it off, saying the timing wasn't right yet. And then there was you and your partner…"

Taking a deep breath, the mage closed his eyes momentarily before reopening his coal colored eyes and slowly saying "We wished to destroy you not long after you began trailing us. Your constant pestering was annoying, to say the least. Byakuya though, he didn't care, nor did the other three core members. They said you were nothing more than an annoying little gnat that would eventually leave us alone, or die trying to chase us."

"Eventually, we grew far too tired of you and our reluctant founders' actions and decided to do something about it. Even Kenpachi and Tōshirō grew tired of letting you follow after us, and I think that is what changed Byakuya's tune. So, after one hundred years of letting you follow us, Byakuya gave the task of getting rid of you to Kenpachi."

Nodding, Iya slightly smirked and smartly replied "We both know how that went down."

With a light grunt of agitation, Jiraiya nodded and muttered "Yeah, to our surprise, you defeated one of our founding members. Kenpachi wasn't the best versed in spells, but for what he lacked in knowledge he made up with sheer power. That's why we were more shocked than anything. With his defeat, we wanted to rip you apart for even taking him down, but it was Byakuya who held us back."

"Over the years, our group would grow so restless with Byakuya till we nearly had to force him to send someone. There was talk of change of leadership once, but that didn't end well. It was Orochimaru who challenged for leadership, only to have Byakuya tear him down, but slowly. After that, no one dared to question him, only to heatedly remind him about you."

Quieting for a moment, the black haired dog hanyou finally asked "What do you intend to do?"

"I'd think that is obvious. We intend on paying Byakuya back for using abusing our loyalty to him. Both Tsunade and myself, like you, are dog demons. Like all dog demons, we possess a sense of duty and loyalty, which we placed in that wolf. Now that we know that he didn't intend on fulfilling what he had promised to do, we intend on showing him that taking advantage of our loyalty to the cause is not appreciated." the white haired mage coldly remarked.

Remaining quiet for a few moments, Iya slowly replied "I understand, though I do caution you, do not let your revenge cloud your mind while fighting. If you do, more than likely, one or both of you shall die."

"Don't worry, I don't intend on dying in this fight, and I won't let Jiraiya either." the blonde haired mage spoke up for the first time.

Glancing back into her golden eyes, the black haired dog hanyou saw fierceness and determination within them. Taking a glance over at the white haired mage's eyes, the hanyou saw the same fierceness and determination within his. Releasing a small sigh, the hanyou finally replied "I understand."

With that, the two mages slid back into the group, leaving the black haired hanyou and silver haired dog demon to themselves. In a low whisper, the hanyou asked "Do you trust them?"

"This Sesshomaru has no reason not to, yet. The one known as Jiraiya gave his life to save Kohaku's during the battle with the two snake mages. In the end, this Sesshomaru resurrected the mage to repay him for his aide."

Nodding to this, Iya softly asked "Did Sango and Miroku…"

"No, the mages did not take them as slaves. They were released upon Jiraiya finding out that the former monk and slayer were mates, from what they told this Sesshomaru."

"Good. Then no one became any of the mage's slaves." Iya commented. "Then the only thing left is to take out Byakuya."

"Indeed."

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Continuing to run a bit longer, the group became aware that the demonic aura they were tracking was quite close. Reaching a large clearing with a set of woods at the far end of it, the group of demons, half demons, and lone quarter demon slowed.

Leading the way with his elder and younger brother on both sides of himself, the black haired dog hanyou quietly walked towards the far end of the clearing. At the edge, he saw a lone figure and could sense the demonic aura that they had been tracking for some time.

At last closing the distance till only twenty feet separated the group from the lone figure, the group came to a stop. Upon doing so, the lone black haired figure opened his eyes, revealing gray eyes. The breeze lightly ruffled his clothing and hair while he took a few steps forward.

"Byakuya Kuchiki." Iya flatly stated.

Watching the wolf demon eye each of them, Inuyasha lightly growled and grunted out "Figures he'd be nothing more than a mangy wolf."

Stopping his examination of the group, the black haired wolf demon returned his eyes to the silver haired hanyou. Raising a hand and pointing a finger at the half demon, the wolf demon coolly said "Know your place, half breed. Hado 4: Byakurai."

Without warning, a bolt of lightning suddenly was released from the mage's finger and went flying straight for the silver haired hanyou. The blinding fast blast went racing towards the hanyou, who stood as if he was frozen in his spot. Just as the blast was about to hit, it suddenly seemed to impact with something, causing it to send out a cloud of smoke and hiding the hanyou.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing the shocked silver hanyou behind the quarter bobcat demon's large cleaver blade. In a slow motion, the quarter demon removed his blade and replaced it on his back while casting a fierce glare at the wolf demon with hard brown eyes. In a flash, he spun around and punched the silver haired hanyou in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud.

Quick to get up with anger flaring in his eyes, the hanyou growled out "What was that for!?"

"Quit shooting your mouth off, Inuyasha." Ichigo snapped. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be a seriously injured right about now. Just be thankful I was quick enough to block it."

"_Like he's one to talk about someone shooting their mouth off._" Iya slyly remarked in his mind.

"Boy."

Realizing it was the mage before the group that spoke out, Ichigo flashed his brown eyes up at the mage with a fierce glare once more. Unaffected, the mage said "I see that you have some skill. Your speed is quite impressive."

"What of it?" the quarter bobcat questioned.

Emotionlessly, Byakuya replied "It is interesting that a quarter breed like yourself possess the ability to move at such great speed. I surmise that is how you managed to keep up with Kenshin."

About to retaliate, the quarter demon stopped and softly chuckled, saying "Your head games won't work on me. Kenshin tried the same thing, but I'll tell you like I did him. I will prove myself to you in a fight."

"I see." was the only response the wolf demon gave. Gazing over the group once more, he slowly said "I suppose that I should thank you for ridding me of The Thirteen."

Growling lowly, Jiraiya stepped up and snarled out "We are here to make sure you pay for your crimes Byakuya! You used us and betrayed our trust!"

Casting his gaze onto the white haired dog demon, the wolf demon emotionlessly replied "It is a shame that loyalty of yours and Tsunade's didn't get the two of you killed. I'd have rather had all of The Thirteen dead."

"Why you…" Tsunade ground out. "We fought for you and the ideas you told us that The Thirteen stood for! Do you mean to say that you planned on us dying all along!?"

"But of course." Byakuya calmly replied, making most of the group gasp a bit in surprise.

Staring at the mage, Iya slowly asked "You mean to tell me, you planned on all of The Thirteen dying? But why?"

"It was a simple plot." the wolf mage commented. "You see, many years ago, I realized that in order to defeat the Four Lands, I would need to slowly destroy them. To do that, I gathered together Gin Ichimaru, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Kenpachi Zaraki."

Pausing for a moment, the mage continued on, saying "Each had been wronged by one of the Four Lands and sought revenge against those lands, and to eventually take them over. Ichimaru sought to destroy and conquer the Southern Lands, while Zaraki sought after the Eastern Lands. Hitsugaya wished to conquer the Northern Lands."

"Myself, I pretended to wish to take over the Western Lands so I could gain their trust. I was the strongest of the four, so I proposed we began creating a group that would overthrow all Four Lands. The others were naturally thrilled to do so."

Remaining emotionless, the mage added "We soon began finding other mages. Orochimaru gladly joined his brother. Soon after that, we found Anko and the Elric Brothers, then Kenshin. Then there was you, Jiraiya, and you, Tsunade. Not long after that, we picked up the Sakura, and finally Kurama joined us to fill out The Thirteen."

"I taught each of you spells to bind and capture slaves from an old book that I told you was incomplete. The truth of the matter was, it was a fake. I hid the true one back from the group so I, and I alone, would have all the important spells."

Eyes widening a fraction, Jiraiya grit out "You mean to tell us, the spells you taught us, you wanted us to know, yet you held back a book that held more!? Why would you do that!?"

"For my own reasons." Byakuya coolly remarked. "The Thirteen only had two true purposes, in my eyes. The first being to weaken the Four Lands so that one day, they would fall. This first purpose was simple enough, for The Thirteen succeeded in many aspects in this accomplishment. They managed to cause a few wars between the Four Lands, plus have a few of the lands become very territorial."

Quieting for a moment, the mage continued on again, saying "The second objective was a simple one as well. That was for all of The Thirteen to take numerous slaves."

"But why?" Iya questioned with confusion.

Before the mage could answer, a new scent hit the air. Picking it up, the black haired dog hanyou watched as the familiar female dog hanyou stepped out from behind a tree that she had been resting against.

Glancing at the female hanyou, the mage softly said "Kaia, I believe it was time you were off. Do not disappoint."

"Yes Lord Byakuya." she softly replied.

Turning away from the group, she broke into a run, but glanced over her shoulder at the male black haired hanyou. Watching this, black haired hanyou clenched his fists tightly. He began to move in her direction, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw that it was his elder brother.

"Let go Sesshomaru! I have to go to her!" Iya angrily spat.

Evenly, the demon lord stoically replied "Foolish little brother, do you think you can do anything?"

Quieting for a moment, the black haired hanyou lowly whispered "I won't let her die in a crazed state. She deserves better. I'm sorry brother, but I must go."

With his words said, the hanyou quickly smacked the hand that held him in place away and streaked across the clearing towards the female dog hanyou. Watching her mate leaving, the half neko glanced nervously between the others and her mate. After a moment of thinking things through, she sped off after her mate, leaving only a surprised bobcat mage behind.

In a low whisper, Orihime murmured "Lilly…"

Watching the figures leave out of the corner of his eyes, the wolf mage remained emotionless and calmly said "I must say, The Thirteen did do a fine job of capturing slaves. They frequently required new ones, thus they constantly captured them."

"But why was it important?" Jiraiya questioned. "Besides that point, you have only had one slave since nearly three hundred years ago."

Keeping his emotionless mask on, the wolf mage calmly replied "The reasoning was quite simple. Having all of you have new slaves was the key part to my plan. Something you did not know about the spell that is cast to take a slave is that that slave will become fertile upon the spell completing. Every slave each of you have taken has been extremely fertile."

Frowning, the blonde haired female mage asked "How did that matter?"

"With each slave taken, a new child was created within those slaves. Upon determining that the slave was pregnant, the child was harvested from that slave and sent away." the wolf mage answered.

"What do you mean harvested?" Orihime spoke up.

Remaining impassive, Byakuya calmly said "I found a spell within that old book that I spoke of that allowed me to transfer the child from the body of the slave that was pregnant to another slave, which was always my own. Once within my slave, I would either allow the slave to carry the child to term, or take it to one of the previous children that had grown and come of age, allowing them to carry it to term."

"You monster…" Jiraiya hissed. "You've taken our children for all of these years! How many have you stolen from us!?"

"Numerous, but many that were weak were cast aside or made child bearers themselves." the stoic wolf demon stated.

Eyes filling with rage and turning red, both the blonde haired and white haired mages charged forward, with each releasing a mighty howl of anger. Raising a hand towards the pair of dog demons racing towards him, the wolf demon calmly said "Your services to The Thirteen were quite helpful. For that reason alone, I shall make your deaths quick. Hado 33: Soukatsui."

Without warning, a blast of blue lightning that was spread out ran towards the pair of dog demons that was charging the wolf mage. Before the blast could hit, a loud yell filled the air, saying "Santen Kesshun! I reject, I reject!"

Forming before the pair of angered dog demons, who were in complete shock of the oncoming attack, was a bright orange barrier in the shape of a triangle. The barrier withstood the assault of the incoming blue lightning before vanishing.

Glancing over their shoulders at the female bobcat mage who was staring at them with fierce gray eyes, the pair of dog demons heard her say "Getting angry and doing something foolish won't avenge the children you lost. Calm down and think before you attack him."

Taking a deep breath, the white haired mage closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. In a calmed voice, he muttered "She's right, Tsunade… As bad as I hate to admit it, we mustn't act rashly."

"Right…" Tsunade murmured while taking a deep breath herself and calming her mind.

Unaffected by the chatter between the three mages, the lone wolf demon lowered his hand from where he had held it up and calmly said "It is not surprising you were saved. Still, it shall be the last time either of you will escape your own deaths."

Flashing dark coal eyes at the wolf mage, the white haired dog mage grit out "Byakuya, for all that you have done to the members of The Thirteen, you shall pay with your life. You bring chaos to a world that has struggled for peace. It is time you went away, forever."

"Not likely." Byakuya flatly replied. "Once I have removed all of you from my sight, all of the Four Lands will fall into line. They will have no choice when they hear I have defeated the mighty Lord of the Western Lands, along with his siblings."

Casting his cold golden eyes onto the mage, Sesshomaru coolly remarked "You surely jest that you, a simple mage, can defeat the Lord of the Western Lands, let alone this Sesshomaru's two brothers."

"It seems only one brother chooses to stand and fight." the wolf demon calmly quipped. "The other is foolishly chasing someone who will never forgive him of his past sins. He will die at her hands in the end."

Raising a hand to before his body, the wolf demon snapped his fingers, saying "Besides, Lord Sesshomaru, you have more than just myself to worry about."

With the wolf demon's words spoken, numerous new figures began appearing at the edge of the tree line. Most had ears on the top of their heads, but some had pointed ears on the sides of their heads, with each having a different hair color. All of the new figures sported similar armor, which was black and white colored, and all were armed with one or more swords, a staff, daggers, sais, or other weapons.

Moving till each of the group had their backs to one another and were in a circle, each of the group of hanyous, demons, and lone quarter demon glanced around at the surrounding army. Many of the army were young looking, with some seemingly no older than their teens.

"Look over this army of three-quarters demons that will crush you." Byakuya stoically commented. "Each of them has been trained in the arts of war, and none will hesitate to kill you should I order it. All of them were raised to know one thing: follow my orders, or your life will be forfeited."

Glancing at the surrounding troops, Tsunade growled lowly and snapped out "So this is what you did to those children. You are despicable, Byakuya Kuchiki."

"Your words have no meaning, much like your life, fool." the wolf demon quipped. "The only use I have had for any of The Thirteen is providing me with an army. I must admit, this wouldn't have happened without the greed each of The Thirteen had and their thirst for…"

"Do you intend on rattling on forever and boring us to death, or are we going to fight?" Ichigo called out, effectively interrupting the wolf mage.

Glancing at the quarter demon, the mage raised his hand and snapped his fingers, saying "Very well then, if you wish to rush to your deaths, then I am glad to oblige."

Drawing their weapons and racing forward, each of the attacking three-quarters demons prepared to lash out at their intended targets. Unsheathing their own weapons, the group of demons, hanyous, and lone quarter demon prepared themselves for the onslaught.

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Trailing the lone female black dog hanyou, the male black dog hanyou increased his speed to match his target. Noting his target was speeding up also, Iya cried out "Kaia, please, wait!"

Coming to a skidding stop, the female dog demon spun around with a fierce look on her face, causing the male hanyou to come to a stop. Staring at her, the male hanyou took a small step towards the female half demon, only to watch her flex her claws menacingly at him.

"Kaia, please, let me help you. There isn't much time before…"

"I want nothing from you, other than your life!" Kaia angrily screamed.

Remaining still for a moment, Iya slowly replied "I can't give you that. It isn't mine to give any longer, and perhaps never was really. At one time, I would have gladly died for you, if I knew it would help you heal."

"But since then, I've come to realize that my death would never sate your anger and hatred, and only ignite one within the ones that I love. They would seek revenge for my death, even if I asked them not to. That is why, I will not forfeit my life to you."

Darkly cackling, the female dog hanyou threw back her head and released dark laughter. "You are just as foolish as I expected. To think, I once thought I cared for you. I learned long ago that such foolish emotions like concern and compassion were wasted on someone like you."

Staring at the person he once knew, the dog hanyou slowly asked "Kaia, please, tell me, what happened so long ago? Why did you join Byakuya Kuchiki?"

"Such foolish questions to ask, but since I will kill you nonetheless, I suppose telling you the truth couldn't hurt." the female hanyou smartly replied. "You see, long ago, after you had raped me, I told myself I was alright with what you had done, that you had no choice in the matter."

Turning her head away, she muttered "I wanted to believe that, so badly back then, but then I realized I was wrong."

Pointing an accusing finger at the male hanyou, the female hanyou angrily said "I trusted and believed in you, yet you betrayed that trust and belief. Your father told me that reparations would be made. He lied, for I saw what happened to you not long after your return to the Western Stronghold! You were rewarded for what you did in the form of that sword that you now carry. Instead of being punished, you were treated the same and told you had done nothing wrong!"

"And then there were the whispers… The claims that I was a shameless whore, that I had tempted you into taking me, and that I would rut with anyone! The shame and humiliation you brought upon myself, along with my family, was too much for me to take! So I left, hoping to escape into the world and find somewhere that I would be accepted once more."

A small smile played upon Kaia's face as she said "And then I met him a month after leaving the Western Lands."

"Him?" Iya asked in confusion.

Sneering at the confusion on the male hanyou's face, the female hanyou answered "Byakuya Kuchiki. He found me while I was still on the run. When I saw him, I thought I had found a god roaming the Earth. Instead of looking at me with pity in his eyes, he looked at me with a kindness. He took me in without asking a thing in return."

"After a few weeks, I made my decision. I asked Byakuya to make me his slave, that way I could repay his kindness. It would also present me with a way to be with him for the remainder of my life, and to forever walk by his side and be whatever he needed. At first, he refused me, saying I had been through too much and I shouldn't rush things. I persisted, and finally, he decided to take me up on my offer. I became his slave willingly, and have no regrets about doing so."

Eyes widening at the declaration of the female hanyou, Iya whispered "You willingly became his slave…"

"Yes, and I have much pride in being his slave." Kaia replied with pride in her voice. "Unlike the other slaves' masters, mine is kind hearted. He didn't take me against my will, nor does he control my will. I am essentially free, but I choose to remain his. Byakuya has offered to free me before, but it is my choice to remain his forever. That is something I promised myself long ago when he showed me kindness and compassion, so forever I will serve him, however he requires me to."

"But if he dies, you will lose control of yourself and become a berserker!" Iya declared with concern in his voice. "Kaia, you will die a violent death if Byakuya dies. Doesn't that worry you?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, the female hanyou slowly reopened them and glanced up at the sky. Calmly, she replied "Not at all. I knew the risks when I became Byakuya's slave, yet I would gladly do it again."

Returning her vision to the male hanyou, she added "But my master will not be defeated. No, he cannot be defeated by the likes of you and your rag tag group of useless hanyous and demons. My master's power is far greater than any of your group. He will crush each and every one of them, without remorse."

"The fact that he has yet to kill you is probably surprising in itself. I have asked for numerous years for him to rid you of this world, but he wished to wait till the time was right. He wishes for you to lose everything you have held dear to your heart before you perish. I believe now would be that time. You will soon lose both brothers, along with all of your so called friends and allies."

Gripping the hilt of her sword and slowly drawing it out of it's sheath, Kaia added "But do not worry about that. In a few moments, your life will have ended. Master Byakuya promised me that on this day, you will die, and he always keeps his promises, no matter what. That is why I will kill you where you stand in a moment. I can't wait to see the surprised look on your face as you draw your last breath."

"Kaia…" Iya quietly mumbled. "Please, don't do this. I am truly sorry for our past. What happened to you was wrong, and I admit it, the burden of that sin still lives in my nightmares. Not a day goes by that I wish I could take back what I did to you during my heat. If I could erase that sin that I committed, I would willingly do so, but nothing I do can ever make it go away."

Unsheathing his own sword and transforming it into it's large fang shape, the male hanyou held it horizontally before his body, saying "That is why I still carry Ketsaiga with me. On the day I received it, I swore an oath to myself that I have never told anyone of. I swore on this sword that I would fight to protect those that I care for, for those who cannot defend themselves against those that wish to hurt them, and for those that I have wronged. I have tried hard all of my life to live by that oath, but even so, the memory of that night still haunts me. I can never take it back, no matter how much I wish I could…"

"Still, I have no desire to kill you. You may have sided with my greatest enemy, but I can never bring myself to hate you. So please, I ask you this one favor. Please, do not fight with me."

Chuckling darkly, Kaia pointed her sword at Iya and smugly said "You ask that I not fight you, how absurd! I will have my revenge, and I will enjoy every last moment of it. Prepare yourself Iya, for you are about to breathe your last breath. NOW DIE!"

With a show of great speed, the female dog hanyou vanished in a flash. She soon reappeared four feet from the male hanyou with a sneer on her face. Bringing her sword forward in a diagonal slash, she aimed for the male hanyou's head, only to have her attack blocked by another sword.

Casting a sideways glance at the owner of the blade, Kaia hissed out "YOU!"

Grunting lightly while pushing away the female dog hanyou, the half neko replied "Yes, me. I will be your opponent, not Iya."


	61. Chapter 60: Struggles

**Hey gang. Well, I had been in highs spirits this week, till this morning. Last night, the temperatures here dropped down to the single digits, with it going below zero even at times. Sadly, my pair of two dogs (well, not mine technically, though I still count them as mine. They're actually my dad's now, since I moved out and gave them to him due that he hunted them) had a rough night. Both are outside dogs and are a pair of Walker Hounds. Tragically, the male of the pair died, with the female not seemingly doing too much better. She's alive, but could possibly have hypothermia. Each had boxes stuffed with hay and four walls around them, but even that don't help I suppose. Had I thought about it, I would have asked my dad to move them into his garage last night. Both of the dogs were children of a dog I first owned long ago. They're the only two of a litter we kept for ourselves, with my uncle having another that I see from time to time.**

**I'm not sure how I feel this morning. It angers me that I didn't think to suggest pulling the dogs in last night, but at the same time, I know they've survived harsh conditions like that before, making me think they'd have been fine. Unfortunately, the weather won out this time against one dog. Both are 10 years old, or one is now I suppose… I'm to go over and check on her here soon. When my dad found them like that this morning, he attempted to revive Brutus (the male dog) with CPR, thinking he had a chance to save him. I think it was too late… Daisy (the female dog) on the other hand is still trembling apparently in their garage with blankets thrown over her to keep her warm. From what my step mom told me, she laid down next to her brother, which just makes it that much more heartbreaking for me.**

**At any rate, just so everyone knows, this chapter is dedicated to Brutus. I know, kind of sad or silly to dedicate this to a dog, but that dog and his sister have been like family to me. It broke my heart to lose their mother, and to lose another one of them hurts just as much. So, regardless of how anyone feels, I'm dedicating it to the memory of Brutus.**

**I really don't feel like this, but I'm going to anyways run through the reviews. After all, everyone that took the time to respond deserves some answers.**

**Kattana: Yeah, darn that Iya for letting his guard down and leaving the group behind. Heh, yeah, this mage appears to be rather smart and strong. I don't think the group has a choice in fighting the children of the mages due that they seem to only obey Byakuya. LOL! Never know, Lilly may backhand Iya for his actions. He did kind of just run off, much like a certain other silver haired hanyou. True, Kaia should have informed Iya of what was being said, but I think she was so ashamed and angered by what was being said that she refused to speak with him. Hmm, him mate with Kaia back then? Not likely, but you never know either. I doubt he would have. True, Kaia acted hastily and found Byakuya, who is far from a god. Thanks for the review!**

**The Grieving General: Yep, another lovely fight. True, I made Byakuya a touch more evil than he seemed in Bleach. In Bleach, he was trying to uphold two promises, only to fail at one while keeping the other. He learned which was more important in the end, but still, it took time. As for in my story, heh, he has his own ideals on what to do. As for using the arrancar, nah, I don't plan on using them really. The arrancar are cool and all, but I'm not focusing in on the children of the mages really, so there is no need to honestly do that. Sorry to say that, but it's just how it is. Still, I do view the arrancars as interesting, but like I said, for the casting of three-quarters demons, not quite. True, Byakuya is much like Sesshomaru in Bleach. He just apparently saved people without warning. Thanks about my grandfather and the New Year. And thank you for your review!**

**Well, that's it for me. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I realize my replies maybe seemingly short, but like I said earlier, I'm not much in the mood today for anything.**

**Anyways, take care everyone, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 60**

"Lilly?" Iya questioned with shock clearly on his face. Regaining his composure, he placed a hand on her shoulder, saying "No Lilly, I can't allow you to fight her. You're not…"

"Iya, do you believe in my abilities as a fighter?" the half neko quickly asked, effectively interrupting the male hanyou.

Quieting for a moment, he replied "Yes, I have complete faith in your skills, but she…"

"Then trust me when I say I can handle her." Lilly answered. "I know that you wish to be the one to help her and stop her from suffering a horrible fate of losing herself in her berserker state when Byakuya dies, but you have to face the facts, Iya. Your emotions are clouding your judgment. Just a moment ago, you let it happen and would have been hurt had I not interfered. I won't let you throw your life away because of the guilt you feel over your past with her. You've come too far to just let her take away everything you've done since then."

Casting a small glance over her shoulder, the neko added "Besides, I need to do this. I need to prove to you and myself that I'm not helpless, that I can protect myself, as well as help our group out when asked to. So please, let me fight her, without any assistance."

Remaining quiet for a few moments, the male dog hanyou slowly said "Lilly… I can't ask you to do this."

"I'm not asking you to make me do it." Lilly corrected. "I want to do this. Don't forget the promise we made to one another. You swore to protect me when we first met, and I swore to protect you also. It's time I kept up my end of the bargain, so let me do this, please."

Glancing at the female dog hanyou across the area, who was glaring at the pair, the dog hanyou cast his eyes back at the half neko before him. Releasing a heavy sigh, he quietly asked "Are you sure you can do this?"

"Do you doubt me?" the neko asked with a bit of irritation in her voice.

Letting out another sigh, the male hanyou whispered "No, but I don't want you to get in over head is all."

Slightly smirking, the half neko replied "Don't worry so much, Iya. I can handle her. If I wasn't confident in my own abilities, I wouldn't ask for this."

Knowing there was no use in arguing any further, the dog hanyou quietly said "I leave her to you then. Please, be careful. Kaia will try to use your inexperience to her advantage."

"I know that, but still, I know I can win." Lilly mumbled.

Nodding, the dog hanyou moved to the side of the neko hanyou and kissed her cheek. In a mere whisper, he said "I love you. Please come back to me, safely."

"I will, I promise." the neko whispered back. "I will always love you too."

With their words said, the male hanyou turned away and began running off into the woods. Watching this, the female dog hanyou barred her fangs and snarled out "YOU AREN'T LEAVING THIS BATTLE!"

Moving quickly in the direction of the vanishing figure, the female dog hanyou was suddenly brought to a stop by the half neko blocking her path. "I told you once already that I am your opponent, not Iya. Get that through your head."

Leaping backwards ten feet, the dog hanyou darkly chuckled and pointed a clawed finger at the half neko, saying "You won't last five minutes against me, and that's giving you the benefit of the doubt that you can even defend yourself. Have you forgotten our last encounter already?"

"Not at all." Lilly answered.

Smirking, Kaia replied "Then you remember how helpless and pitiful you were back then. You couldn't even ward off my attacks when I used Senbonzakura."

Pausing for a moment, the dog hanyou added "And besides that, I warned you that there is a difference in our power, a gap that you can never overcome."

"Regardless of your knowledge of our past fight, it doesn't matter." the half neko firmly stated. "I'm not going to lose to you this time. I've come a long way since then."

Still smirking, the dog hanyou replied "I would be willing to bet you'll just give up and transform in the end. It'll be a shame to kill an opponent who doesn't know what they are doing."

Moving her left foot forward and her right one behind herself to form a back stance while pulling her sword to the center of her body, Lilly calmly replied "I wouldn't count on getting an easy victory. I have no intentions on transforming into my full demon state. I'll beat you just as I am."

"Bold words for a weakling." Kaia grunted. "All I need is five minutes or less, and you'll be dead."

"Come prove it." the half neko remarked.

Sneering, the dog hanyou raced across the clearing towards the half neko. She struck out with a diagonal slash like she had previously at the male hanyou, only to have her sword met by the half neko's.

Quirking a brow at being blocked, the dog hanyou pulled back and swung once more, only to again find her sword blocked by the neko hanyou's. Without warning, the dog hanyou vanished into thin air, leaving the neko alone. Remaining calm and pulling her sword before her body while sniffing the air and swiveling her ears, the half neko stood still till suddenly she moved slightly and raised her sword to her right side just as the blade of the dog hanyou came swinging in at her head. The sound of steel hitting steel coursed through the area while the pair separated.

Watching the dog hanyou reappear before herself with a distance of ten feet between them, the half neko vanished. A moment later, the half neko appeared behind the dog hanyou with her sword pulled back and ready to plunge into the dog hanyou's back, who let out a soft gasp of surprise.

Out of desperation, the dog hanyou quickly turned and used the broad side of her sword to block the plunging sword of the half neko demon. The two blades clashed against one another, giving off the sound of clanging metal and the sight of sparks flying.

Vanishing once more, the half neko reappeared ten feet away from the dog hanyou with her sword before her body like before. Allowing a small smile to appear on her face, she tauntingly asked "Was that good enough to prove you're not wasting your time with me?"

"Why you…" the dog hanyou growled out.

Watching the half dog demon disappear in a flash, the half neko waited patiently for a moment till she suddenly brought her sword before herself diagonally. The dog hanyou instantly reappeared before her, with the two blades singing out as sparks flew from them. Gritting her teeth, the dog hanyou began pushing more strength into her sword, making the metal of the two sword grind together. Not allowing herself to lose ground, the half neko pushed back with equal force, leaving the two in a stalemate.

After a minute of grinding blades together, the dog hanyou leapt away and retreated to a safe distance of ten feet. Staring at the neko, she released the frown that was on her face and allowed a small smirk to appear in it's place.

"I must admit, you've impressed me, neko." Kaia coolly said. "I wouldn't have guessed that in the near month you've been gone that your skills would have improved this much. I must commend that old dog for teaching your something."

Relaxing her stance, Lilly calmly replied "Iya taught me how to handle this sword. This very sword once belonged to his mother, Asami. He gave it to protect me, much like how his father gave it to his mother to protect her."

"You are naïve to believe that he cares for you." the dog hanyou ground out. "All he cares about is himself."

Shaking her head, the half neko softly responded with "You're wrong, Kaia. Iya may have harmed you in the past, but he didn't do it intentionally. What happened was not his fault, but it happened nonetheless. You claim he doesn't care about what happened, but you're completely wrong, Kaia."

Looking at the dog hanyou with glassy emerald orbs, the neko quietly said "He blames himself for that night, and that blame hasn't lessened over the years. To him, it was completely his fault that you were raped…"

"SHUT UP!" the dog hanyou screamed. Pointing her sword at the neko, she yelled "You know nothing about the pain and anguish I've felt over the years over what he did to me! He raped me, yet was never punished for his crimes! Meanwhile, I was ridiculed and said to have forced myself onto him! It was his entire fault that I was forced to leave the Western Lands! He betrayed me and my family, so don't you make it out that I was at fault!"

Remaining quiet for a moment, Lilly softly said "But it wasn't all his fault. Kaia, you must know by now that demons go into heat. The same happened to Iya. Due that he is half human, he can't control his heats like other demons can. He would never have willingly harmed you. I know him, and I know his heart."

Reaching a hand up to her collar, the neko pulled it down, revealing two dots at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Watching this, the dog hanyou sneered, saying "He marked you. Typical worthless mutt."

"He is not a worthless mutt!" the half neko snarled. "If you dare mock my mate, I'll cut out your throat, you bitch!"

Quirking a brow at the half neko, Kaia sneered once more and smugly asked "You love him, don't you? How classic…"

"I love Iya with all of my heart, and that's why I can't let you leave here." Lilly firmly replied while releasing her collar and allowing it to cover her mark once more. Pointing her sword at the dog hanyou, she added "Kaia, you represent the past that Iya can never overcome. It is your memory that keeps him from moving on with his life. He is tormented by nightmares and the thoughts of what he did to you. I've heard him calling out in his sleep and asking for your forgiveness for what he did so long ago."

Releasing a small sigh, she calmly said "That is why I made my choice. I decided that I would stop you for Iya. My life has been intertwined with Iya's since he saved me, and now we are mates. But you wish for him to never move on, thus he will remain in the past and troubled by you and your memories. So I will sever those ties for him. It is the only way for him to move on with his life."

Staring at the half neko demon for a long moment, the dog hanyou finally began smiling evilly while a small dark chuckle began. After a few moments, the laughter grew into a loud and dark laughter.

Finishing her laughter, the dog hanyou pointed her sword at the half neko, saying "You are a true fool to think I'll ever die so Iya can live his life. The punishment he deserves is far greater than simple memories. His life is what I desire to sate my anger and hatred for him."

"In the end, will that make you any happier?" Lilly asked with emotion in her voice.

Sneering, Kaia smartly replied "But of course. With his existence gone, I shall be free from his memories and the knowledge of knowing that bastard still walks among the living. I can't wait to never have to see him again."

"And that happens very soon, my irritating kitty." the dog hanyou added. "You see, I can't wait to see the look on his face when I show him his mate's dead body. That combined with the death of his two brothers and all of those in your group will show him how much he had to lose. His own death will then be complete, with him knowing he failed to protect everything and everyone he ever cared about."

Raising her sword before herself so that it was vertical, Kaia coolly said "And now, it is time to remind you of the difference in our power, a power that all the training in the world won't help you overcome."

Twisting her sword so that the broad side faced the half neko, the dog hanyou calmly said "Now Scatter Senbonzakura."

Instantly, the blade of the dog hanyou's began glowing with a light pink glow. Bit by bit, the sword began turning into flower petals that began swirling around the hanyou. Nothing but the hilt remained of the sword, which the hanyou held tightly while smirking evilly at the half neko demon who stared her opponent down.

"Just like before…" Lilly whispered while staring at the pink swirling sakura petals. Tightening her grip on the hilt of her sword, she added "But this time is different. I have Kimi this time."

"Kimi?" the dog hanyou asked with a passive voice. "Is that the name of that sword you hold? I can tell it's weak and will shatter before the end of this battle."

Crouching into a ready stance, the half neko fiercely replied "I wouldn't underestimate Kimi. It will cost you in the end."

"Then come show me that amazing sword of yours." Kaia challenged.

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"Hiraikotsu!"

Flying across the wide open field full of three-quarters demons, the large bone weapon covered in thick vines with thorns sliced it's way through several three-quarters demons before returning to the half silver fox demon. Just as it returned, a white and silver haired three-quarters demon wielding a large battle axe took a swing at the silver fox hanyou.

Before the axe could hit her, a sword intercepted the attack, belonging to the quarter bobcat demon. Letting out a loud roar, he pushed the three-quarters demon away and swung his sword downwards, screaming out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Flying away from the tip of the large cleaver blade instantly was a blast of light blue demonic energy that took the form of a crescent moon. The blade cleanly cleaved through the three-quarters demon, leaving a curdling scream of pain in it's wake.

"Thank you, Ichigo." Sango humbly said while placing her back up against his own. "There are so many of them, it's hard to keep from getting attacked while still attacking."

Nodding, Ichigo gripped the hilt of Zangetsu tightly, saying "We're cutting their numbers down, but there are still many to go."

"Then we might as well get to it, eh?" the former demon slayer smartly remarked.

Smirking at the comment, the quarter bobcat charged forward while releasing a loud battle cry and swinging his blade at the nearest enemy in an attempt to cut them down.

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"WIND SCAR!"

"MAKENKOSAPPO!"

A blast of white demonic energy in the form of a claw shape instantly went flying from the loud yell, followed by a large swirling purple beam of demonic energy also. The twin blasts slammed heavily into a group of the three-quarters demons, killing some instantly, while wounding others.

Panting lightly, the silver haired dog hanyou growled in frustration as he saw some of the wounded three-quarters demons racing towards his mate and himself. Glancing over at his mate, he noted that the female dog hanyou was panting lightly herself, seemingly tiring much like himself.

Catching his breath, he quietly said "Kagome, don't use up too much of your energy."

"I know, Inuyasha." the female dog hanyou irritably replied. "I just can't let them keep coming at us like that."

Nodding, the male dog hanyou cast a quick glance at the oncoming group of three-quarters demons. Growing annoyed with the group, he raised his sword to before himself and began calling forth more power from it. The large halberd pulsated for a moment before glowing with a white aura. A moment passed before the aura faded, revealing a diamond covered blade.

Bringing the blade to his right side, he swung it hard before his body horizontally, crying out "You pests, take this! Adamant Barrage!"

Hundreds of small spear like diamonds instantly formed before the hanyou as he swung his sword and went racing straight forward towards the oncoming enemies. The spears easily pierced through the entire attacking group, with all of them screaming out in pain when the spears passed through their bodies. Numerous three-quarters demons fell to the ground with blood pouring out of their wounds, but some continued onwards towards the pair of mates.

"Damn it! Their numbers seem to be limitless." Inuyasha growled.

Readying herself for another wave of attacks, Kagome added "They're also smart enough to know how to dodge some of our stronger attacks also. I think they're more or less wearing us down."

Smirking, the male hanyou smartly said "Then we'll just have to keep mowing them down. No matter what, I'm not losing you."

"And I'm not losing you." the female hanyou firmly replied. "That just means we'll have to cleave our way through!"

With a nod from her mate, the pair of hanyous charged forward, their swords glowing already, symbolizing their readiness to fire another round of blasts. Before they could, a single powerful wave of light blue energy slammed heavily into a single three-quarters demon that was directly behind the silver haired dog hanyou.

About to ask what happened, the male hanyou was interrupted by the black haired wolf hanyou, who quickly asked "Are you two alright? I know that blast was close, but it was all I could do to keep the two of you from being sneak attacked."

"Thanks Rin!" Kagome quickly replied.

Grumbling lowly, Inuyasha muttered "Thanks."

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Forming a circle around the regal silver haired dog demon, the group of three-quarters demons readied themselves to move in. The demon lord stood still, his cold golden eyes boring into the three-quarters demons that dared to look him in the eye.

Wordlessly, a group behind the demon lord charged forward with their weapons drawn and ready to strike. With little effort, the dog demon turned behind himself with his right hand's claws glowing with a green light.

"You dare attack this Sesshomaru, you vermin?" Sesshomaru coolly questioned. "Poison Claws!"

His words spoken, the demon lord swiped his claws out at the incoming three-quarters demons. With ease, he cut through their weapons, and some of their bodies with his glowing green claws, leaving many that were hit screaming out in agony while acid burned into their skin.

Watching this, another portion of the three-quarters demons surrounding the dog demon charged forward. Irked by their attack, the demon lord leapt into the air and released his green laser whip at the numerous incomplete demons. His whip easily tore through most of the three-quarters demons, leaving some dismembered and crying out in pain.

Landing onto the ground, the dog demon lord noted that more three-quarters demons were rushing towards him with their weapons drawn. Drawing the top sword in his obi, he brought it before his body and sent it sweeping horizontally through the air.

"Perish."

A massive blast of white demonic energy instantly went flying forward from the sweep in the form of a large claw. The blast cut through the numerous enemies easily. Few barely managed to avoid the attack, but the few that did gathered up together and began rushing forward.

Casting his cold golden eyes onto the incoming attackers, the demon lord coldly said "You are not worthy to live. Die with dignity by the blade of this Bakusaiga."

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Slicing his sword through yet another three-quarters demon, the black haired dog demon let out a growl of frustration. "_No matter how many I slay, they keep coming. It's like there is no end to their numbers. Surely Byakuya didn't create an army this large!_"

Knocked out of his thoughts by a loud yell, the black haired dog demon noted an incoming female three-quarters demon with blonde and red hair. Irritated, he dodged her attack, only to have another similar looking male version of the incomplete demon appear behind himself with a sword ready to plunge in his back.

Using his superior speed, Ryo performed a series of hand signs and spun around to face his new attacker. In a mighty yell, he cried out "Katon Goukakyuu!"

A fireball instantly shot from the dog demon's mouth and incinerated the weaker three-quarters demon, who released a howl of pain while the flames scorched his skin. Landing onto the ground, the dog mage quickly scrambled for a safer location.

Watching the female three-quarters demon staring at the charred body of the similar looking male three-quarters demon, the dog demon saw tears erupt from the young woman's eyes.

Looking fiercely at the dog demon with her eyes starting to bleed red, the female three-quarters demon roared "YOU BASTARD, THAT WAS MY BROTHER! I'LL KILL YOU!"

In a flash, the female incomplete demon was before the black haired dog demon, who could hardly suppress a small gasp of shock. She instantly slashed out at the dog mage, only to have her sword met by his. Quickly retreating a short distance, the dog demon stared with a touch of awe and shock at the transformed three-quarters demon.

"_She's lost in a blood haze to avenge her brother. I have no choice but to use it._"

Sheathing his sword, the dog demon crossed his arms and closed his eyes, causing his body to glow with a red aura with flames erupting. Opening his light blue eyes, he brought his arms down, causing the clothing he wore to vanish along with the red aura while a white and red light metallic body armor appeared. Reaching out with his right hand, he grasped his wrist with his left hand and held it straight out.

"Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!"

Glowing brightly with a blinding white light, a suit of red armor with twin swords on it's back appeared before the dog demon. The armor suddenly began sliding backwards towards him, but vanished in a flash of white light before hit could touch him.

Without warning, flames covered Ryo's body, hiding it from the raging three-quarters demon. In a flash, the flames receded, revealing the dog mage was still standing where he had a moment before, but now he was covered in red armor from head to toe. On his legs, thick armor covered his feet, shins, and calves while a battle skirt protected his hips and groin. A strong chest plate covered his chest, which wrapped around his body. On his shoulders were shoulder pads that stuck outwards in a forty-five degree angle. Attached to his back was a pair of swords in their sheaths. His head was covered by a helmet that had a pair of silver horns sticking out to each side.

Grasping the hilts of both swords, he drew them out and pulled them to each of his sides. Taking a glance at his opponent, he noted how she clutched the hilt of her own sword tightly to the point that her hands were beginning to bleed.

"I'll kill you for what you did to him." she coldly growled out while glaring at him with seemingly soulless eyes of red with deep green irises.

Remaining quiet, the dog demon took up a ready stance. At long last, he spoke up, saying "I have no desire to kill you, young one. Leave while you can."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" the three-quarters demon roared while charging forward towards the dog mage.

Releasing a small sigh, the dog demon brought the two swords before his body and quietly replied "Then you leave me with no choice."

Slashing out at the mage, the female incomplete demon narrowly missed his main body. Not wasting the opening she had provided, the dog mage quickly plunged one of his twin swords into her body, causing her to gasp out in pain as the blade ran through her chest.

Her eyes immediately lost all the redness within them and returned to their original dull amber color. In a mere whisper as she stood with blood pouring out of her wound and down the sword, she said "Brother… wait… for… me…"

Upon finishing her words, the three-quarters demon eyes glazed over and she slid forward to rest up against the dog demon. Pulling his sword free from her body, the black haired dog mage gently laid the body of his opponent down onto the ground. Staring down at her, he couldn't help but feel sadness for the young woman laying on the ground before him.

Looking at the blood on his sword, the mage clenched his light blue eyes shut and whispered "So much blood spilled for someone whose ambitions are to rule all the lands. That is so cruel, Byakuya Kuchiki."

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Breaking free from a majority of the three-quarters demons, the blonde and white haired dog mages began racing towards the place where they had last seen the wolf mage. A few incomplete demons attempted to block their path, but they made quick work of them.

Sniffing the air, Jiraiya lowly growled and without warning turned to his left with his partner following closely behind him. Racing onwards, the dog demon hands clenched into tight fists while a low rumbling growl escaped his lips.

Reaching the spot where the source of the scent was, the pair of dog demons glared at the black haired wolf demon, who was watching the battle with seemingly little interest. Acknowledging the two dog demons, the mage remained emotionless.

"You bastard, you'll pay for taking all the children of The Thirteen and turning them into your tools for war!" Tsunade heatedly yelled.

Glaring fiercely at the wolf mage, the white haired mage added "You'll wish for death once we're done with you."

"Your idle threats do not worry me." Byakuya coolly replied. "For all your boasting, you are nothing but a pair of mangy dogs that can never hurt me."

Snapping his fingers, the wolf mage added "Besides, you have two more opponents before you can fight with me."

Leaping out of the nearby woods and landing before the wolf mage were a white and silver haired male three-quarters demon and a blonde with red mixed in female three-quarters demon, each with dog ears on top of their heads, which were swiveling back and forth. Neither appeared armed, but each had cold smirks on their faces while they crackled their claws with anticipation.

Viewing the two three-quarters demons, both the blonde and white haired mages gasped in surprise. Taking a small step back while sniffing the air, each stared down the incomplete demons with dismay on their faces.

"That's… that's my son I would have had with Kyoko…" Jiraiya lowly whispered.

In a similar fashion, Tsunade quietly said "And that is the daughter I would have had with my first slave. I recognize his scent on her…"

"So, you recognize us, you old fogies." the white and silver haired three-quarters demon brazenly remarked.

Sneering coldly at the blonde haired mage, the female three-quarters demon coldly added "I guess we should be honored that they know who we are. Not that either of you cared when you discarded us."

"Discarded you?" the white haired dog mage questioned with shock on his face. "I could never discard a child of mine! I thought you and your mother were dead… I lost her in a battle with another demon, so I assumed you died within her. How could you even be alive!?"

Not receiving an answer, the white haired mage glanced behind the pair to see the impassive face of the wolf mage. Growling loudly while clenching his hands into tight fists, Jiraiya grit out "I see… Before I left on my mission with Kyoko, your slave checked her out since Tsunade was away at the time. I should have known then that the child wasn't with her still… You cast that transference spell on your slave and took our child…"

Angrily, he pointed a clawed finger at the wolf mage, snarling out "YOU HAD KYOKO KILLED TOO! ADMIT IT YOU BASTARD!"

"That slave was leading you away from our objectives. I could not allow it. I simply rid you of your petty attachment." Byakuya calmly replied.

Eyes flashing red, the male dog demon struggled to control his emotions and burning desire to rush the wolf demon. Clenching his hands tightly till his claws began digging into his own palm and causing it to bleed while his demon aura flared around his body, the dog demon dangerously said "When I get my hands on you, you will die slowly and painfully."

"You must get past us first." the male three-quarters demon declared while moving his hands before his body and readying them for the fight.

Smirking evilly while holding her right fist up, the female three-quarters demon added "Get ready for your long awaited deaths."

Lightly growling, the blonde haired dog demon glanced at her partner and saw his red eyes with glowing blue-green irises. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she saw his eyes shift to her and flicker for a moment to their original coal color. "Jiraiya, don't lose control. I can't afford to let you lose yourself in your anger and die on me."

Clenching his fists tighter and drawing a bit more blood, the white haired dog demon lowly grit out "I realize that… But what do we do? Kill our own blood to get to our enemy!?"

"They don't even recognize us, Jiraiya." Tsunade quietly replied. "There is no saving them, for Byakuya has spoon fed them lies since birth. The son Kyoko and you made is gone, and all that is left is this creature."

Pausing for a moment, she added in a faint whisper "Much like how my own daughter has turned out."

Fiercely, she continued on and said "Don't let it end this way. Help me defeat them both, and then we'll deal with the traitor who is responsible for this."

Closing his eyes for a moment, the white haired dog demon calmed his aura and slowly reopened his eyes while releasing his clenched fists. Revealing coal eyes once more, the mage took a deep breath.

"Tsunade, you are right. If we're to punish the one who took our children and made them into what they are now, I mustn't fly off the handle. Together, you and I shall avenge our children."

Nodding, the female dog mage turned her attention towards the pair of three-quarters demons, along with her partner. "Then we have no choice. Let's be quick about this."

"I agree." Jiraiya darkly mumbled.

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Eyeing the continuing battle from a perch on a tree, the wolf mage passed his gray orbs over the small army that was fighting the group of demons, half demons, and lone quarter demon. Noting that many of the three-quarters demons he had brought with himself were dead, with only a minimal of the original force left, his brow lightly furrowed.

Coldly, he whispered "Foolish incompetent mongrels, I have given you the tools to achieve victory on your own, yet you cannot even handle inferior opponents."

"I dislike aiding you, but I shall, this time." the wolf demon calmly said while performing a series of hand signs before his body. Finishing, he declared "Sealing Spell: Reversal."

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Slaying yet another opponent, the female black haired dog hanyou began moving towards the next when she suddenly felt her body pulsate. Letting out a gasp of pain, she felt the halberd in her hands suddenly reverse it's transformation and return to it's original smaller size.

"What is this?" she whispered when she suddenly felt another pulsation that forced her to her knees in pain.

Sweat began breaking out on her brow while she heavily panting. Another pulse rippled through her body, making her cry out in pain.

Hearing the sound of his mate's pain, the silver haired dog hanyou slashed through his opponent and quickly made his way to her side. "Kagome, what's wrong!?"

"It hurts…" she whimpered while her body suddenly pulsated once more.

Frowning, the male hanyou was about to ask something when another set of yells filled the battlefield. Standing, the male hanyou noted that several of the group, the ones who had once been human and turned into hanyous, were all on their knees and seemingly in pain like his own mate.

Glancing between his mate and the others, he asked aloud "What's going on?"

Wincing in pain once more, Kagome slowly opened her eyes, only to feel her body once more pulsate. With the new pulsation, she felt her fangs shrinking back and becoming normal human teeth once more. Looking at one hand, she saw her claws on her finger tips becoming blunt human nails. Her dog ears slowly melted away while her human ones sprouted back out. Lastly, her eyes lost their honey coloring and returned to a dark brown color.

Staring at her hands and then up at her mate, she whispered "This isn't possible… I'm human again, but it's not the night of the new moon! How can this be?"

About to answer, Inuyasha was stopped when he heard several more yelps. Looking at the numerous allies and friends scattered across the battlefield, he saw that all of them had reverted to their human forms.

"What the hell is this!?" he asked aloud.

Suddenly hearing an advancing enemy, the silver haired hanyou stood up quickly and blocked an incoming attack with Tetsusaiga. Growling lowly, he knocked the opponent away before thrusting his sword through the chest of the attacker.

Glancing at his friends that were weakly getting up, he shot a quick glance at his mate. "Can you stand, Kagome?"

"I think so…" she whispered in reply. She attempted to stand, only to find her legs were a bit wobbly. Leaning on her mate for support, she stood up straight and glanced at the others. "It looks like all of us that were turned half demon are human again. But how can this be?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the silver haired hanyou quietly said "I'm not sure, but I know this much. All of you are in danger now."

Sheathing Tetsusaiga, the hanyou quickly picked his mate up bridal style, which caught her off guard. Taking off, the silver haired hanyou quickly found the others that were still fighting.

Setting Kagome down, Inuyasha yelled out "Guys, Kagome and the other former humans that had that slave spell cast on them are human again! We have to protect them!"

Hearing the words of the hanyou, the quarter bobcat and bobcat mage quickly rushed to the aide of the slayer and former monk. At the same time, the demon lord intercepted an attack aimed at his adopted daughter. In the nick of time, the black haired dog demon wearing red armor managed to save the brown haired young man from an attacker.

Gathering the group up, the demons, lone half demon, and quarter demon glared at the oncoming attackers. Growling loudly, the silver haired hanyou slammed his sword downwards at the ground, yelling "WIND SCAR!"

The blast of white demonic energy raced forward and took out a few of the three-quarters demons, forcing the remainder to retreat a short distance.

"Damn it, now what?" Inuyasha grunted out while glancing at the group of humans who seemed drained of their energy. "There is no way they can help us in the fight. We'll have to protect them."

Keeping her eyes sharply on the advancing attackers, Orihime spoke up, saying "I bet Byakuya has something to do with this. He must have reversed their transformation spell so that we'd have to spend our time defending the others while his army bears down on us."

"I would guess so myself." Ryo added. "It seems as though he's trying to tip the odds in his favor."

"Indeed." the stoic demon lord commented.

Lightly growling, the silver haired dog demon brought his halberd up off the ground and sat it onto his shoulder. "That's just great. Then we'll have to let his army bring the fight to us!"

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Racing back towards the battleground, the black haired dog hanyou glanced over his shoulder worriedly in the direction he had just come from for the millionth time. An image of his mate, the half neko demon, instantly flashed through his mind.

"_Should I have let her fight Kaia? I know Lilly is tough, that much is for certain. She's grown tremendously over the last month or so, but does she have the skills to counter Kaia?_"

Returning his vision ahead, he mentally whispered "_Please Kami, let Lilly win._"

Sniffing the air, the brow of the dog hanyou furrowed with confusion. "_Why can I smell so many scents ahead? They're not full demons either. No, more like three-quarters demons. And then there is the confusing part about their scents, which is they're familiar and similar to that of The Thirteen and their slaves. But that's impossible…_"

"_And then there is the fact that the scents of the others are different. It's hard to distinguish, but it's like the humans that The Thirteen turned into half demons are no longer in their hanyou form, but in human form. It's odd... But that can't be right, can it?_"

Shaken from his thoughts while reentering the clearing where he had left earlier, he came to a stop and softly gasped at the carnage of the battlefield. Numerous bodies of three-quarters demons littered the area. The stench of blood was thick in the air, along with the scent of death.

Scanning the area, the dog hanyou noticed what looked like the remains of the three-quarters demon army seemingly attacking. Picking up the scents of his friends before the army, the dog hanyou charged towards the army while drawing Ketsaiga from it's sheath. The transformation of the sword was instantly sparked, transforming it into it's large halberd form.

Hearing his younger brother and some of the others fighting on the other side, the dog hanyou moved his blade to his right side and called upon it's frosty form. The blade immediately coated itself in ice while frosty white steam seeped out of it. Swinging the sword hard horizontally, he yelled "Shard Storm!"

Thousands of small daggered shaped shards of ice instantly formed across where the half demon had swung his sword. Suddenly, they all went racing forward and piercing through numerous units of the army surrounding the demons, lone half demon, and quarter demon.

Casting a quick glance at his older brother as he landed beside of him, Inuyasha gruffly asked "Where the hell have you been!?"

"And more importantly, where is Lilly!?" Orihime demanded.

Gripping the hilt of his sword slightly tighter, Iya quietly replied "The half demon that left before the battle began was Byakuya's slave. I managed to get her to stop eventually, but Lilly took up the fight."

Turning his golden eyes towards his brother for a moment, Sesshomaru asked "Was it her, little brother?"

Remaining quiet for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh, the black haired dog hanyou slowly said "Yes, it was Kaia."

"Who the hell is Kaia!?" the silver haired hanyou demanded.

Regaining his composure, Iya replied "It doesn't matter. She was someone both Sesshomaru and I knew while growing up. Needless to say, she's Byakuya's slave now. Like I said, Lilly is fighting her as we speak."

"Was that wise?" Ryo questioned.

Starting to speak, the black haired hanyou stopped. Slowly, he quietly replied "I'm not sure to be honest. She told me she could handle Kaia. I only pray she can."

"But that doesn't matter at the moment." Iya firmly added. "The true question at the moment is what is going on here? Where did this army come from?"

"Once you and Lilly left, Byakuya finished his little speech on what The Thirteen were being used for." Ryo began. "When one of The Thirteen's spell to enslave a human was completed, a secondary spell that Byakuya chained to the slavery spell was activated, making the new hanyou extremely fertile, thus allowing them to get pregnant easily."

Frowning, the black haired hanyou asked "Why would he do that? Besides that point, I never saw any pregnant slaves during all these years of fighting."

"That would be due to Byakuya's meddling." Orihime spoke up. "After a week or two of the slave being fully controlled, Byakuya would cast a spell upon his own slave, allowing that slave to transfer the child growing within the new slave to herself. From there, Byakuya would either have his slave carry the child to term, or have it given to one of the born children that had come of age."

"The asshole's entire army is made up of three-quarters demons." Ichigo added.

Growling lightly while glaring at the advancing incomplete demons, Iya quietly grit out "That is completely despicable of him…"

"Tell me about it." Inuyasha grunted out. "On top of that, the others seem to have lost their demonic powers and are too weak to help fight."

Glancing behind himself at the group of humans, the black haired hanyou lightly growled. "_Not good. With those five in that state, they're in no shape to fight._"

Eyes widening, the dog hanyou glanced towards the woods where he had just come out of. "_I wonder if Lilly is fine. If the others have become human, then she could be too. In her human form, she wouldn't stand a chance against Kaia…_"

"_Do I go to her and possibly lose the others?_"

Clutching Ketsaiga tightly, the dog hanyou shook his head and growled "_No, she said she can do this. I have to believe in her, no matter what._"

"What should we do Iya?" a voice spoke up, breaking the dog hanyou out of his thoughts. With a quick glance, he realized it was the female bobcat demon who had spoken to him.

Pondering on her words for a moment, the black haired hanyou calmly replied "We have to get the humans out of here. Together, we can defend them from the army, but Byakuya in due time will escape. No matter what, we can't allow that. I suggest that you all take the humans and retreat…"

"This Sesshomaru does not retreat."

Sighing at the stubborn words of his elder brother, Iya calmly responded with "I realize that you don't retreat Sesshomaru, but at the moment, we're outnumbered, plus we can't defend the human members of our group, defeat the army before us, and take down Byakuya. There is no possible way to juggle all three strategies. They'll get past our defenses eventually."

Slightly smirking, the dog hanyou added "Besides that fact, I have a plan."

Frowning, the elder dog demon asked "And what is that?"

Remaining on guard, the black haired hanyou slowly said "Once the group begins to retreat, the army will advance to wipe us out. That will force them to form up ranks that can chase after us, making it easier for them to be taken down with wide spread attacks, like Inuyasha's Wind Scar, your Bakusaiga's attack, Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō, or Ryo's fire spells. All four will be far more effective than before."

"What about Orihime and yourself?" Inuyasha quickly asked.

"Orihime will be able to shield the group easily with her spells. Myself, I will be taking the fight to Byakuya, which should draw a few of his army towards me, but not too many." Iya explained.

Casting a fierce glare at his brother, the silver haired hanyou growled out "Oh no you're not! I won't let you fight him alone!"

"Inuyasha, you and the others must protect the humans." the black haired hanyou calmly insisted. "I can handle myself, and besides, I have some unfinished business with that mage."

"We can't let you do that alone though!" Ryo firmly remarked. "That mage is the strongest of The Thirteen. He'll tear you apart!"

Standing still for a moment, the black haired dog hanyou glanced at his friend and softly said "I can defeat him. Trust me when I say that, Ryo of the Wildfire."

"But Iya…"

"This Sesshomaru understands." the demon lord spoke up, effectively cutting the black haired dog mage off. "Do as you must, Iya."

Nodding to his elder brother, the black haired hanyou feigned a smile at him before readying his sword before his body, causing it to suddenly begin glowing with a white swirling demonic aura. "You guys need a distraction, so I'll attempt to provide one to let you all get out of here."

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, the dog hanyou raised his blade above his head, screaming out "WIND SLASH!"

With the blade slamming downwards, a blast of white demonic energy went screaming forward towards the hostile incomplete demons. The blast easily tore through a few of the army, who couldn't move out of the way of the blast.

Quickly calling forth the icy transformation of Ketsaiga, Iya swung the sword to his side and then through the air, yelling "SHARD STORM!"

Thousands of ice daggers immediately went flying forward towards the army. The daggers quickly sliced through a portion of the three-quarters demons, with many howling out in pain from the blades cutting through them.

Noting a hole forming in the ranks of the army, the black haired dog hanyou yelled "Inuyasha, get them out of here now!"

Picking up his weakened mate bridal style, the silver haired dog hanyou watched as his brother picked placed his adopted daughter and the young brown haired man on each of his shoulders. Moving next to the silver haired hanyou, the large blonde neko demon that had stayed out of most of the battle while protecting the fox kit that rode on it's head, moved close enough so that the quarter demon and bobcat mage could load the former monk and demon slayer onto it's back.

"Hurry up guys, they're getting ready to reform ranks!" Ichigo barked out.

Quickly moving forward with his oldest brother moving beside of himself and the large neko demon taking to the air above the pair, the silver haired dog hanyou raced through the broken lines of the three-quarters demons. Staying close behind the three carrying passengers, the female bobcat mage and quarter bobcat kept glancing to make that the army was following them.

Not disappointing the fleeing group, the three-quarters demons quickly regrouped and followed after the group. A few remaining of the army turned towards the lone black haired dog hanyou and readied themselves for an attack.

Watching his friends leave, the dog hanyou whispered "Good luck."


	62. Chapter 61: The Difference

**Hey gang! Well, my three day weekend was nice. Saturday, my mate and I went and did our grocery shopping, though it was very long… I didn't mind too badly though, at the time it was irritating. Sunday, I watched it snow for the most part. We got 4 or 5 inches from like 5 that evening into the next day. I ended up taking my mate to work that afternoon, just to be safe. Needless to say, she was happy I did, hehe. On Monday, I went and saw my grandparents like always. They were doing well enough, with my grandmother asking me to put up another mailbox. Someone tore her other up, and if I had to guess, someone just wanged it with their mirror, or the State Road hit it. Either way, I put up a mailbox for her. Other than that, not too much has happened. I'm thankful the inauguration is over, at long last. I hate events that become an all day thing. It's a waste, to me at the least. Although, on another note, I am thankful Obama made it in without incident, and Bush left at long last. Hopefully he'll do a good job. Thus far he's put a stop to a great deal of things that Bush began or did, so we'll see. I only hope he can lead this country back out of it's recession. Let's face it, after the last 8 years, he couldn't do much worse, hehe.**

**Btw, since I last posted, my dad has been keeping Daisy, the dog that survived, in his garage. She's hardly barked at all apparently, but Brutus was always the instigator of the two, who would begin barking, then she'd join. But she is doing alright.**

**Well, I'm sure everyone is surprised that I'm posting again so soon. After all, it was only last Friday that I posted, and here it is Wednesday, not even a week since the last post. The reason being that I'm posting is I got freed up enough Sunday to write a good portion of this chapter, plus I did a lot of work on it the last two days. In essence, I just got enough time to do what I wanted to do, at long last.**

**Moving along, it's time for the reviews!**

**Jordan no kitsune: Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you like this story thus far, and that you even added it to your fav stories. Thank you for taking the time to review, and I hope to see your name come up some more.**

**Kattana: Thanks about Brutus. Daisy seems to be coping with the loss well enough. I know she probably misses him, but there isn't much to do about that. Glad to hear about the animal rights support and you liking this chapter. True, one has to wonder what happened to Lilly since she was one of the humans turned half demon, and if the spell could reach her. But yeah, Jiraiya and Tsunade seemed to know that their opponents are their children that were taken. I'm sure they heard, but they didn't think he would pit their own children against them. True, like Tsunade said, their children are lost to them due to Byakuya's brainwashing. Thank you again for your thoughts on Daisy, and once more for your review. Oh yeah, and I did keep the last part of your review about updating, hehe.**

**Well, that's it for this round. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I appreciate them greatly. Also, thank you to Jordan no kitsune and HatakeSakura for adding me to your fav stories. I also apologize to anyone who I forgot to include that may have added my story to their favorites or alerts. I'm a touch forgetful and sometimes pay little attention, so I apologize for that.**

**At any rate, that's it for me. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 61**

Sniffing the air, the black haired dog hanyou began racing towards the scent of the wolf mage he had tracked for years. Gripping the hilt of Ketsaiga that was now sheathed, he steeled his mind on the fight ahead.

"_This is it. Today, I put an end to The Thirteen. I've waited for two and a half centuries for this opportunity. I'll at long last fulfill father's final order to me._"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realized that a small squad of three-quarters demons was just up ahead of him. There were ten in all, each seemingly gripping their weapons tightly and ready to fight.

Growling lowly, Iya yelled "Out of my way!"

Instead of moving, the group of incomplete demons began charging him. Irked by their insistence to fight him, the dog hanyou took to the air and released a blue laser whip from his index finger and middle finger on each hand at the closest members of the attackers, which sliced through two three-quarters demons with ease. A loud howl erupted from both dying incomplete demons while the dog hanyou returned his whips. Landing on the ground gracefully, the hanyou cast his muddy brown eyes at the group, which was still coming at him.

"I have no desire to kill the lot of you, but if you insist on fighting, I will!" he grit out, only to see the enemy continue advancing.

Cracking his claws, he drew back his right hand, causing the tips of his claws to glow with a light blue aura. Sweeping them through the air before himself, he yelled out "Ice Claws!"

Five jagged and sharp icicles immediately formed from the sweeping motion of the dog hanyou and went racing forward. All five hit their marks and embedded into five three-quarters demons. The first was hit in the left shoulder, the second in the throat, the third in the forehead, the fourth in the right shoulder, and the fifth in his gut. Two of the incomplete demons fell to the ground dead within a second, while the other three grit their teeth as they removed the icicles from their wounds.

Charging forward without any emotions in their eyes, the three-quarters demons slashed out at the hanyou with their swords and sais, only to have the hanyou dodge their attacks with ease. Avoiding another barrage of attacks, the hanyou let out a heavy sigh and glanced at the group attacking him with a touch of irritation.

"If you don't wish to listen to my words, then listen to my claws!" Iya roared while charging forward and crackling his claws.

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Staring down her opponent, the half neko twitched her ears, listening for any sounds that the sakura petals were making while they seemingly danced around her opponent. Sniffing the air, she found their scent was easy to make out due that they smelled similar to real sakura petals, but had a metallic tang to them also.

"Well kitty, are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come after me?" Kaia taunted.

Remaining calm, Lilly slightly smiled and calmly replied "I won't give into your taunts."

Shrugging, the black haired dog hanyou brought the hilt of her sword up and calmly said "Very well then, I guess I'll have to come for you."

Glowing with a pink aura, the sword's hilt suddenly shot out a new blade, shocking the half neko demon. Keenly watching the dog hanyou, the neko wasn't too surprised when she vanished from her sight, along with the sakura petals.

"_I just have to remain calm. Iya and Ichigo both taught me to not panic in a fight. If I do, I'll lose complete sight of her and will leave myself open to attack._"

Taking in the air around her through her nose, she swiveled her ears and carefully listened for any sounds that would tip her off to the position of the dog hanyou. Picking up on the presence of her attacker, the neko quickly leapt out of the way, just as the dog hanyou reappeared behind her and lashed out with her sword.

Frowning, the dog hanyou irritably grit out "I see you're able to sense where I am still. But note something is different."

Realizing what the dog hanyou meant, the half neko began sniffing the air and twitching her ears, looking for any signs of the sakura petals. She quickly picked up on them and rolled away from the spot she had been in, just as the sakura petals appeared and struck the spot she had been standing in.

Getting to her feet and keeping Kimi trained on her opponent, she quickly had to dodge the sakura petals once more as they came in at her. Skipping backwards, she couldn't help but suppress a gasp as the petals continued to follow her while the dog hanyou seemed to keep her eyes focused on the half neko.

Deciding to take a different course of action, the half neko vanished into thin air, causing the dog hanyou to quickly begin scanning the battleground for her opponent. The sakura petals immediately began moving back towards her, only to be beat by the neko, who reappeared behind the dog hanyou.

Swinging around and lashing out with her own sword, the dog hanyou's blade met the neko's, sending out a series of sparks along with the song of steel clashing. Realizing the petals were coming closer, the neko leapt backwards, avoiding them as they began swirling around the dog hanyou like a protective barrier.

"_So that's it._" Lilly commented in her mind. "_She can control what direction they go within her mind. Their speed is easy to figure out now that I know for certain she can wield both that attack and defend herself as well. All I have to do is use that to my advantage._"

"You are quite nimble, I must admit, little kitty." the dog hanyou's voice calmly said, breaking the neko out of her thoughts. "You're every bit as fast as myself, if not a touch faster. Still, that doesn't matter, for in the end, I shall kill you. Then I'll show your wretched mate your remains. It will break his heart, that much is for certain, and he will realize that he failed to protect you. And with that, he'll lose his will to fight."

Growling lightly, Lilly fiercely replied "I won't die. No matter what, I will stop you and return to Iya. You can make threats all you like, but the fact of the matter is I will defeat you!"

"Bold words for someone so weak and pathetic." Kaia casually commented. "You are no threat to me, neko. Know that before you perish."

With her words said, the dog hanyou stretched her empty left hand out towards the neko, seemingly commanding the flower petals that danced around her body to attack. Gasping at their increased speed, the neko quickly tried to evade, only developing a few cuts from the attack.

Glancing at her wounds, she returned her vision to the dog hanyou, who moved her hands once more towards the neko, who quickly had to leap into the air to avoid the assault of the incoming flower petals. Once more, she developed a few more cuts, making her wince slightly in pain.

"_How are they moving faster!? I don't get it! Is her moving her hands causing the flower petals to increase in speed, or was she just playing with me before?_"

Before the neko could think anymore, she realized the flower petals were quickly closing in on her position. Watching the neko vanish in a flash, the dog hanyou recalled the flower petals to herself by using her hands. A moment passed before the neko hanyou reappeared behind the dog hanyou and slashed out at her. Just as she did, the flower petals began protecting it's master and blocked the attack the neko.

Turning towards the neko, the dog hanyou coldly smirked and smartly said "You're finished."

Upon the dog hanyou finishing her words, the flower petals began swirling around the neko, making her scream out in pain as numerous wounds appeared on her body. With all her strength, the neko quickly vanished in a flash and reappeared fifteen feet away from the dog hanyou.

Panting heavily while blood dripped to the ground from her wounds, the neko suddenly felt weak and dropped to her knees. Falling onto them hard, she fell further onto the ground and landed on her face.

Sneering at the fallen neko, the dog hanyou smugly said "I told you that you were not any threat to me. I was merely holding back my power before. You see, I can control Senbonzakura with my mind, but when I use my hands, it's speed doubles from before. This fight was over before it began, and the outcome is as I …"

"It's… not… over…"

Frowning, the dog hanyou watched as the neko slowly began to stand. Blood dripped to the ground from her numerous wounds, with her clothing revealing a few slash marks itself and starting to stain with the crimson color. At last standing back up, the neko brought her sword before her body once more.

"You're joking, right?" Kaia smartly asked. "Look at yourself. You're a mess. In your condition, you won't last long against me. Why do you bother to rise again to only fall in the end?"

With labored pants, the neko cast her fierce emerald eyes upon the dog hanyou and firmly replied with "I do this because I must. I cannot afford to die here. No matter what it takes, I'll defeat you and free Iya from his past. I don't care what happens to me, but I won't allow my mate to suffer any longer. That's why I can't quit."

"Then you will die here for your continued foolishness." the dog hanyou coldly remarked.

Slightly smirking, Lilly closed her emerald eyes and calmed her breathing. Finally calmed down, she slowly reopened them and drew her sword up before herself. In her mind, she heard the familiar voice of the sword speaking to her.

"_Do you plan to die here, Lilly? That would be very troublesome to lose a second master._"

Mentally replying, she said "_No Kimi, I don't intend on losing my life here._"

Hearing a growl from the sword, the neko reopened her eyes and ignored it. Still smirking, she calmly said "I had hoped that I could win this fight, even with you releasing your zanpakutō. I trained hard to fight against one, but I see your sword is a bit too much for me to continue this battle as is. I guess I have no choice but to reveal the truth about Kimi."

"What truth? That it's a useless sword." Kaia taunted.

Ignoring the comment of the dog hanyou, the half neko demon calmly replied "Kimi isn't a normal sword. No, back when it was forged, it wasn't forged by the sword smith whom forged the Ketsaiga, Tetsusaiga, or Tenseiga. Instead, the former Lord of the West had it forged by the man known as Kisuke Urahara. Mr. Urahara created a zanpakutō for the former Lord of the West to give to Iya's mother, Asami."

"That sword is a zanpakutō?" the dog hanyou questioned. "If it is, it is the weakest one I've ever seen."

Still ignoring the dog hanyou's comments, Lilly continued on, saying "The sword was nicknamed Kimi upon completion. That is not it's true name. Only Asami and her enemies knew it."

"And now, I know it as well. The sword chose to reveal it to me. And like Asami before me, I shall reveal it to my, enemy."

Gripping the hilt of her sword tightly while she turned it vertically before herself, Lilly firmly said "Roar Haineko!"

Scoffing at the words the neko said, the dog hanyou began to say something when suddenly the blade of the sword that the neko held began to dissolve into what looked like ash. It dissolved all the way down to the hilt, leaving only it in the neko's clutches.

"That's it? That's your zanpakutō's released form?" Kaia scoffed. "It seems useless."

Smirking, Lilly firmly replied "I wouldn't judge Haineko by it's appearances. You may find out just how useless it is. Like right about now."

Frowning, the dog hanyou was about to speak when suddenly she felt something slash her cheek, causing her to quickly leap backwards while her flower petal barrier followed her. Glancing around, she watched as what looked like a thin layer of gray began swirling around the half neko demon. Reaching up and feeling her cheek, she wiped the blood off of her scratch and brought her hand before her face to see the small trickle of blood.

Glaring at the neko, the dog hanyou snarled out "You will pay for that!"

"Come make me, Kaia." the half neko calmly replied. "I'm not afraid of you. You'll find out soon enough what Haineko is truly capable of."

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Forming a series of hand signs, the male silver and white haired three-quarters demon smirked and smugly said "This is the end of the road for you, old man! Die at the hands of your own son! Katon Goukakyuu!"

Taking a deep breath, the three-quarters demon spat out a large fireball at the white haired dog demon. Staring at it, sadness flickered within the depths of the coal eyes of the mage while staring at the incoming attack.

"I am truly sorry, Kyoko, for what I must do." he softly whispered. Raising his own hands, he performed a series of hand signs, which were exactly the same as the three-quarters demon had just done. Finishing, he softly said "Farewell, my son. Katon Goukakyuu."

With his last words said, the dog mage took a deep breath and spat out a much larger fireball at the incoming one. The two attacks struck one another, with the larger one engulfing the smaller fireball, causing it to vanish.

Shocked at what had just happened, the three-quarters demon was unable to escape the path of the fast moving fireball. The sphere slammed hard into him, making him scream out in agony as flames licked his skin and scorched every inch of it. He finally went silent after nearly a minute and fell to the ground in a burning heap.

Looking at the heap laying on the ground, the dog demon felt a few tears begin to trickle down his cheeks. Reaching up and wiping them away with his sleeve, the dog mage softly whispered aloud "I am truly sorry my son. If only I had known… I only hope you find peace in the afterlife."

Turning away from the remains of the smoldering body, the dog mage's eyes hardened while he growled out "This ends today. I will not allow Byakuya to harm another child, ever."

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Punching rapidly at the blonde haired mage before herself, the female three-quarters demon growled lowly as her glowing red fists continued to miss her opponent. Swinging her right fist at the dog demon, the three-quarters demon growled loudly when she realized she had missed once more.

"FIGHT ME!" the three-quarters demon growled.

Staring at the three-quarters demon, whose chest was heaving while she seethed with anger, the blonde haired dog demon quietly replied "I don't want to fight you. Please, just step aside and let me go on to fight Byakuya."

"YOU WILL NOT PASS! THE ONLY WAY I'LL NOT FIGHT YOU IS WHEN YOU ARE DEAD!"

Hearing the words that the three-quarters demon spoke, the female dog demon cast her eyes down at the ground for a moment before slowly raising them back up. Clenching her fists tightly while a light blue demonic aura began swirling around them, the dog demon hardened her amber eyes upon her opponent.

Staring at the female three-quarters demons, Tsunade calmly but coldly said "I'm sorry that I must do this. I wish I had known that I was pregnant with you so long ago. If I had, I would have fought with all I had to keep you out of Byakuya's hands. I only wish I had known, but it is too late for that now. Now all that matters is I make sure that this mage never does the same thing to anyone else, and the only way to do that is to eliminate you from my path."

Bringing her arms before herself, the female mage slammed both of her glowing fists together, causing a buildup of her light blue demonic aura around them. With eyes iced over, the female mage drew back her right arm and slammed it hard into the ground, screaming out "Earth Spell: Gaia Crusher!"

The ground before the female mage's fist immediately began transforming, with jagged rocks rising up out of the ground. They began moving forward at a fast rate and grew in size seemingly with each rock rising. In complete shock, the three-quarters demon didn't seem to know what to do. Without warning, one of the large rocks rose up from behind her, making her lean backwards, only to have another large rock rise up and impale her through her gut.

Standing from where she had slammed her fist into the ground, the blonde haired mage slowly walked towards the impaled three-quarters demon. Reaching her, the mage noted that the incomplete demon was barely alive, but blood was pouring out from her wounds.

In a soft, tender tone, the mage quietly whispered "I'm so sorry for this to have happened to you, my daughter. If only I had known…"

With tears leaking down her cheeks from her amber eyes, the mage gently placed a hand onto the three-quarters demon's head, who was shivering. The mage's hand began to glow with a light blue aura while she gently ran her hand through the incomplete demon's hair.

"Forgive me…" Tsunade quietly whispered as suddenly the three-quarters demon's body seemed to go slack and she stopped breathing.

Stepping away, the mage allowed her hand to stop glowing. "I am truly sorry that that was all I could do for you. Relieving you of your pain seemed to be the only thing I was capable of doing in the end."

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she cast her golden eyes in the direction that the wolf mage had moved and began walking towards it. "He will pay for this, I swear my daughter. No matter what, I will avenge you."

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Meeting one another before the large tree that the wolf demon stood atop of, the two dog demons noted each seemed to have a look of fierce determination, mixed in with sadness, within their eyes.

In a quiet voice, Jiraiya softly asked "Did you do it?"

Nodding mutely, Tsunade replied "Yes, I did what was necessary. You?"

"He left me no choice." the male dog demon remarked with bitterness clearly in his voice and his eyes.

Casting their views on the large tree before themselves, the pair looked up at the top of the tree and saw the wolf mage was staring down at them with indifferent eyes. Unaffected by the wolf demon's stare, the dog demons casually glanced from one another before nodding at each other.

Raising a glowing light blue fist before herself, the female dog demon slammed her powerful fist into the tree the wolf mage stood in. With ease, the female mage's fist smashed through the thick trunk of the tree, causing it to begin to topple over.

Leaping from his perch, the wolf demon landed gracefully twenty feet away from the pair of dog demons and regarded each with emotionless looks. Calmly, he said "It seems you have killed the two warriors I sent to face you."

"What you have done can never be forgiven." the white haired dog demon dangerously replied.

Coldly, the blonde haired dog demon added "You will suffer for forcing our children into slavery and becoming your mindless servants."

Remaining calm and emotionless, the wolf mage drew his sword deliberately slowly, saying "I fear no threats from a pair of weaklings. Neither of you have the strength to defeat me."

"You're wrong, Byakuya Kuchiki." Jiraiya remarked with a firm tone. "We will avenge our fallen brethren of The Thirteen and their children by laying you to rest, once and for all."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Byakuya emotionlessly spoke one word in reply. "Absurd."

"We'll see how absurd it truly is once you are dead." Tsunade ground out.

Bringing his sword before his body, the wolf demon gave it a half twist so the broad side of his sword was facing the pair of dog demons. "You speak of foolishness. Nonetheless, I shall let you die by my blade and demonstrate something that you do not understand. That is the difference in our powers is far too great for either of you to bridge, but I see talk will not change your minds. Therefore, I shall show you the difference."

In a calm commanding voice, the mage closed his eyes and said "Scatter Senbonzakura."

Immediately, the blade of the sword began glowing with a pink aura. Without warning, the blade began dissolving into pink sakura petals and seemingly began dancing around the wolf mage, as if it was a protective barrier.

Watching the flower petals dance around the wolf mage, the male dog demon spoke up in a steeled voice, saying "Senbonzakura, a thousand blades, each too small for the eye to see. When the blades fly, they turn and reflect the sunlight, resembling a thousand flower petals falling."

"We know it all too well." the female dog demon added. "After all, you put them on display rarely, but when you did, all of us in the group watched intently."

"It does not matter how often you have watched them." Byakuya calmly replied. "In the end, they will be your death. Now come at me, if you dare, or I shall end both of you in one blow."

Growling lightly, Jiraiya began performing a series of hand signs and screamed out "It is you who shall fall in this fight! Summoning Spell, Toad Mouth Trap!"

Slamming his palm to the ground upon finishing his hand signs, the dog mage poured out his power as suddenly four flesh walls formed around the wolf mage. They instantly enclosed around the wolf demon, forming an elliptical shape.

"No one has ever escaped from my Toad Mouth Trap, so enjoy the remainder of your life, Byakuya Kuchiki." the white haired dog demon confidently remarked.

Turning to his partner, the white haired dog mage began to say something, only to be cut off by when he suddenly felt the demonic aura of the wolf demon increasing. Without warning, a cyclone of flower petals erupted from the top of the fleshy prison, with the wolf demon soon flying out the hole it had created. Landing fifteen feet from the dog demons, the wolf demon regarded the pair with an emotionless face.

Taking a faltering step backwards, the white haired mage whispered "Impossible… No one has ever escaped my spell before…"

Noting her partner was in complete shock, the female dog demon stepped up and called forth her demonic aura. Sending all the power she could into her fists, the two began glowing brightly with a brilliant light blue aura. Smashing them together before her body, she poured out all the power she had into the two.

"This one is for all those that I have lost! Earth Spell, Gaia Crusher!"

Slamming her fist hard into the ground, the mage watched as rocks began jutting out of the ground in a line towards the wolf demon. With each rock, their size grew in height. At long last, the rocks reached the wolf mage and prepared to impale him, only to slam hard into the pink flower petals circling his body. Each and every rock was sliced through cleanly, leaving them to topple over onto the ground with a heavy thud.

In shock, the female mage shook her head slowly, saying "It can't be… Gaia Crusher didn't do a thing to him."

Casting his emotionless gray orbs upon the pair, Byakuya calmly asked "Is that all?"

Receiving no answer, the wolf demon added "A shame, but not unexpected. As you can see, neither of you were able to harm me. I shall tell you the difference in the three of us. It is class. Neither of you have it, but I do, thus why I shall rule Japan."

"And now, perish."

Flying away from the wolf demon, the pink flower petals began swarming towards the two stunned dog mages. Coming out of his stupor, the male dog demon quickly moved before the female demon and spread his arms, allowing his body to be a shield just as the flower petals were about to hit.

A mighty roar erupted from the white haired mage as they flower petals struck him time and time again. Numerous slash marks appeared on his body with blood spraying into the air. Some of the petals managed to pass completely through his body and strike the female mage, but the male dog demon took a majority of attack on.

At last, the storm of flower petals began to quell, revealing the male dog demon was cut up badly, with blood pouring from his multiple wounds. His once pure white hair was now blood soaked and turning a crimson color slowly. A bit of blood trickled from his mouth and down his face. For a moment, he stood completely still, but without warning, he suddenly fell face first onto the ground with blood gushing out of his body from the impact.

Watching her partner hit the ground, the weakened female dog demon hit her own knees while blood poured out from a few of her wounds. Her own wounds were not as bad, but she had a few serious ones where the flower petals had slashed through her own body.

Weakly, the female mage crawled to the side of the fallen dog demon. Gently, she rolled him onto his back, only to see the extent of his wounds. His eyes were already half glazed over, but focused on her face upon seeing it.

With tears in his eyes, the weak white haired mage whispered "I'm so sorry for this Tsunade. I thought we could… I thought…"

"Save your strength, Jiraiya." Tsunade interrupted. With tears starting to slide down her own cheek, she whimpered out "Don't leave me, please. I need you more than you know."

In a faint whisper, Jiraiya replied "I will always be with you, in your heart… Live on…"

Saying his words, the male dog demon closed his eyes and released a final breath. Immediately, the female mage knew that her partner had died. Tears began rolling down her cheeks heavily while she released a loud scream of agony. Laying her head on her former partner's chest, she sobbed heavily into his blood stained body, not even caring of the blood that was soaking into her hair, skin, or clothing.

"A shame that my attack did not finish both of you at once." Byakuya spoke up while impassively staring at the two dog demons. "I shall rectify that easily."

At once, the pink flower petals that were swirling in the air near the wolf mage went racing towards the sobbing figure of the female dog demon. With only two feet to spare, a wall of ice suddenly rose up out of the ground before the female mage, effectively shielding her from the sakura petals that slammed into the wall instead.

Grunting with slight irritation, the wolf mage glanced to his right, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the black haired dog hanyou with his sword touching the ground. The blade of the sword was coated in ice with steam rising up off of it.

"Looks like I arrived just in time." Iya calmly remarked.

Recalling the flower petals that had slammed into the wall of ice to surround himself, the mage held the hilt of his sword up, causing the flower petals to reform the blade of the sword. Sheathing his sword, the wolf demon walked towards the dog hanyou, seemingly unafraid of his presence.

Staring at the wolf demon that stopped only ten feet from himself, the half dog demon calmly said "So, at long last, it seems that you will fight with me."

"If you call your death a fight." Byakuya stoically replied.

Raising his sword up off of the ground and stabbing it into the ground while releasing it's icy form, Iya stonily remarked "I've waited for this day for about nearly two and half centuries. There is no running from me, this time, Byakuya Kuchiki."

Keeping his emotionless mask on, the wolf demon coolly replied "I have never needed to run from you, half breed. You are but an annoyance that I allowed to live for all these years. I must commend you on your ability to trim the numbers of The Thirteen. Without you, I would have had to have done so on my own."

"Allowing your comrades to fall is rather despicable." the dog hanyou harshly remarked. "Still, I had no problem in dealing with any of The Thirteen. You mages have caused far too much damage to the Four Lands."

"That damage was required in order to pave the way for my rule." the wolf demon calmly responded. "Soon, I shall rule the Four Lands."

In a grunt, the dog hanyou replied "Not likely. After all, you have to deal with myself, and should I die, my elder brother shall deal with you."

"The Lord of the Western Lands is nothing to me. He shall soon be felled by my sword."

Raising an eyebrow, Iya began to respond, only to be cut off by Byakuya. "Once I have ended his life, the Western Lands shall be mine. The Northern Lands will fall after that, then the Eastern, and finally the Southern."

"You seem confident that you can pull it off. I must say, you are not short on nerve, but I fail to see how that will win you any of the Four Lands."

Keeping his voice calm, the mage replied "The fate you have been entwined within will soon end. For you see, it is by the actions of The Thirteen that you even exist."

"What was that?" Iya questioned.

In a cool voice, Byakuya sharply remarked "For several centuries, The Thirteen have caused numerous wars and disruptions among the Four Lands. One in particular was the war between the East and West."

Watching to see that the dog hanyou was intently listening, the mage continued on, saying "In that war, the West and the East fought a fierce war. At the end, a peace agreement was put together by the Western Lord, who was your father at the time. His peace agreement was mostly based off of the ideas from his top advisor."

"_Could it have been my mother?_" Iya pondered, but didn't have much time to consider the question as the wolf demon continued.

"She was but a half breed. A half breed has no right to tell demons how to settle wars. They are lucky to even exist in the first place. Still, the advisor helped the Western and Eastern Lords come to terms, thus ending the war between the two lands."

"Upon hearing this, The Thirteen waited a few months after the war was over before rousing some of the demons on the borders. Soon enough, incidents involving both Western and Eastern Lands broke out and threatened to end the peace between the two lands."

"It was at that time, the Eastern Lord appealed to the Western Lord to settle the disputes peacefully, for he wished not to return to war due that his lands had suffered greatly. With that expressed, the Western Lord agreed. Leaving his lands with his advisor, the Demon Lord of the West headed to the Eastern Lands to meet with the Eastern Lord."

Pausing for a moment, the mage slowly said "From what I am told, the Lord of the West went into heat during his trip and coupled with his advisor for one night. A month passed and she was found pregnant. Sometime later, she gave birth to a pup, but died in labor. That pup was you, Iya Taisho."

Clenching his hands into tight fists, Iya ground out "So, it was a direct result of you mages' meddling that I was born. What of it!?"

"I find it interesting that your life has been entwined with The Thirteen for so long." Byakuya answered. "Especially when it comes to people you have wronged."

Growling lowly, the dog hanyou grit out "It is your fault that Kaia is the way she is. She was my friend…"

"That you raped." the wolf mage commented. "If I am not mistaken, treating friends like that is not proper."

"Shut your mouth!" Iya snarled while his eyes flickered red.

Remaining unaffected, Byakuya calmly replied "Our paths once more crossed near the end of the Lord of the West's death. The new Southern Lord at that time wished to reclaim land that his father had settled on with the Lord of the West, but feared going to war due that the North and the West would be against him due to their alliance."

"We offered him an alternative though." the mage continued. "After some discussion, I convinced the Southern Lord to have the dragon that lived on the border of the West and South to begin pushing further into the West. That dragon's name was Ryuukossei."

Clenching his fists tighter till his claws began to dig into his skin and cause blood to drip out of his hands, the dog hanyou grit out "It was you that had Ryuukossei begin his attacks on the Western Lands!?"

"I planted the idea within the Southern Lord's mind." the mage confirmed. "It was not hard to manipulate him into doing so."

Remaining emotionless, the mage added "I did not intend though that the Lord of the West would send you after The Thirteen. Had I known he would foolishly do so, I would have attacked the West sooner. Of course, the Lord of the West fought with the foolish dragon, Ryuukossei. The dragon was strong, almost stronger, but in his desperation, the Lord of the West sealed that dragon away in an eternal slumber, but not before taking on a fatal wound, one that would help do him in."

"At the same time, I approached the human army that was under the command of Takemaru of Setsuna. I managed to easily sway him into occupying the castle in which the mate to the Lord of the West resided, who was ready to give birth to the pair's hanyou child."

Watching the anger continue to build within the eyes of the dog hanyou, the wolf mage coolly continued on, saying "From there on, things played out as I predicted. The Lord went to his mate, only to find the army that Takemaru brought waiting for him. In his rage, the Lord of the West smashed through the army, while Takemaru killed off the Lord's mate. Still, before her death, she managed to give birth to a son, your younger half brother I do believe. Upon finding his dead mate, the Western Lord revived her using one of his swords, Tenseiga. Takemaru and the Lord of the West continued to fight while the Lord's mate fled. The fight with Ryuukossei had weakened the Lord of the West greatly, and thus, Takemaru and the demon lord both died in the fight while the palace they fought in crashed upon them, taking both their lives."

Growling lowly while his demonic aura flared around himself, the half dog demon's claws sunk deeper into his palms, squeezing more blood out. His eyes were already burning red while his irises were still a muddy brown color, but they were beginning to turn into a blue-green hue. Slowly, his fangs were lengthening, while his claws began the same process.

In a dark voice, the half demon grit out "You will pay for your crimes, Byakuya Kuchiki. It was your actions that killed my father, the former Lord of the West, Inutaisho! For that, I will show you no compassion, no mercy. Nothing you say from here on can save your life!"

"I fear nothing that you say, half breed." the wolf mage calmly remarked. "From what I had heard, you had not transformed in some time, but here you are, on the verge of losing yourself in your rage. Interesting that a half breed like you can do something so careless."

Before the hanyou could answer, the wolf demon vanished from his sight. Reappearing behind the dog hanyou, the mage drew his sword rapidly and began to plunge it into the back of the hanyou, only to have his blade blocked by a large cleaver blade instead.

A touch shocked, the wolf demon glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that it was the quarter bobcat demon that blocked the attack and was wearing a smirk. Retreating a short distance of ten feet away, the wolf demon eyed the quarter demon, who only returned the look with one of his own.

Digging his sword into the ground, the quarter bobcat turned and punched the dog hanyou in the cheek with a fierce right hand, sending the hanyou flying to the ground. In a strangled voice, the quarter bobcat grit out "What the hell is wrong with you!? You always reprimand me on my temper, yet here you are, ready to transform and go on the attack in a mindless state."

Rubbing his sore cheek where the quarter demon had hit him, the hanyou cast his eyes down at the ground. Quietly, he mumbled "Sorry…"

"Don't apologize to me." Ichigo responded. "I just don't want you to go carelessly throwing your life away. Don't forget, someone is counting on you, so you can't afford to be dumb at a time like this."

Understanding his partner's words, Iya stood and frowned. "Why are you here, Ichigo? I thought I sent you and the others on to protect the humans of the group."

"You did, but you have to remember something. I'm not good at following directions all the time." the quarter bobcat smartly remarked. "Once we had the army thinned down, I told Inuyasha I was going back to lend you a hand. He tried to stop me, but I was way too fast for him to stop."

Rolling his eyes, the dog hanyou grumbled "Typical Ichigo."

Glancing behind the dog hanyou at the sobbing dog demon, Ichigo asked "What happened to them?"

"I'm not too sure myself." Iya responded. Letting out a light sigh, he added "I barely arrived just in time to rescue Tsunade from death. Since then, Byakuya has been informing me of how The Thirteen and myself have been connected."

In a low voice, the hanyou whispered "It's because of their meddling that I was even conceived."

"So what?" the quarter bobcat questioned. "Just cause they were the reason you were born doesn't mean a thing."

"They've pulled the strings in many wars, Ichigo." Iya quietly replied. "It was their fault that Ryuukossei attacked the Western Lands, and that my father was fatally wounded in that fight. They even orchestrated the events that had the human soldiers that occupy the palace where Inuyasha's mother lived. The Thirteen, no, Byakuya, managed to orchestrate the death of my father."

Silence filled the area for a moment before Ichigo spoke up, saying "I see, well, we'll just have to kill him and make sure he never meddles in the affairs of the Four Lands ever again."

A touch shocked at his partner's words, the dog hanyou slowly nodded. Seeing this, the quarter bobcat added "Now then, you should get Tsunade out of here, or at least far enough away so she won't be in the way. Then you should check on your mate. After all, if the others were returned to their human form, she may have had the same thing happen to her."

"Yeah…" the dog hanyou lowly commented. "She's still alive though. I know that much."

Nodding, the quarter bobcat replied "Good, then go to her. If she is human, she'll need a hand probably."

"Right…" Iya quietly remarked. Glancing at the wolf demon, the dog hanyou asked "What of Byakuya Kuchiki? We can't let him escape again…"

"Who said we would?" Ichigo smartly questioned. "I plan on fighting him while you take care of that other stuff. I should be able to take him on till then, if not have him finished off."

"But…"

Shaking his head, the quarter bobcat firmly said "No buts! I can take care of myself. Right now, there are more important things for you to do."

Quieting for a moment, the quarter bobcat added "Besides, at the moment, your emotions are clouding your judgment. You were losing control of yourself, and that's something I've never seen happen."

"Yeah… You're right." Iya quietly agreed. Glancing at the silent wolf demon, then back at his partner, he calmly said "I understand. I'll try and be back as quickly as I can. Just stay alive, alright?"

Smirking, Ichigo replied "No worries here. I don't intend on dying, just yet. Take your time, for I might have this already wrapped up by the time you get back."

"We'll see." the dog hanyou remarked. Drawing his sword out of the ground and sheathing it, the hanyou turned away and whispered "Take care."


	63. Chapter 62: Fading Away

**Hello all! Wow, the weather here has turned sour. I had been hearing how a large storm was going to move through where I live, but I never imagined it would be like it is. Last night, we had only an inch of snow, with the roads clear. I went to bed at 1 AM, with no snow falling yet. When I woke up this morning, my mate looked out the window and said there was a good bit of snow on. I glanced out and realized we had about 4-5 inches, at least. To make things worse, there is a thin layer of ice under it from where it drizzled slightly last night right at dark. I got up anyways and got ready for work and headed out after I got my car cleaned off, which took some time to do. The road we live on is a dirt road, with a black topped hill, but there is a second route around that is little longer. I took that, not even bothering to try our hill since I knew ice was underneath the snow. I managed to get out to the black topped road that takes me to work, only to find it not plowed, which was lovely. Only a few tracks were in the road too, making it that much harder to get to work. I finally made it to where the road becomes a one-lane, where a large hill is. I started up it fine, only to reach near the top and spin out. I luckily got stopped and turned around and went off the hill, only to try and go up the hill again with a bit more speed. That time it worked. After that, no problems getting to work, since it was only a half a mile away, hehe. I actually live only a mile or so away from work, so it's nice that I don't have to put up with the weather too badly usually. Anyways, hardly anyone is here at work. Three out of seven called off, and I thought it would be four, but was proven wrong. At any rate, we're to get another few inches today. We have a Winter Storm Advisory in effect, plus a Flash Flood Watch for tonight. After dark, the snow is to turn to rain and drop an inch of rain on us. Then tomorrow, it turns back to snow in the form of 2-4 inches. Ack, this is going to be a very long set of two days…**

**Other than that, life is peachy. Nothing is really going on. I helped my dad and step brother position Daisy's new dog box in her pen while we removed the old one. It's smaller, but should help hold her body heat in better. She immediately curled up within it upon us laying it out for her. I can't think of anything else really.**

**I bet everyone is shocked I'm posting more regularly, like once a week, for the third straight week in a row. I guess the only explanation I have for it is I've been thinking a lot on this story, plus with my other story stopped shortly while I wait on my co-author to finish his chapter, I've found plenty of time to work on this story. It also helps that I'm not terribly busy at work too, hehe.**

**At any rate, without further ado, time for reviews!**

**The Grieving General: Yep, it seems as though the final fight has begun with Byakuya himself, with Ichigo spearheading it himself. The only question is, can he hold his own against this mage, or will he fall like Tsunade and Jiraiya before Byakuya's might. Only time will tell, and maybe this chapter, lol. Lol, skipping chapters is always interesting. The human reasoning is explained in the previous chapter, if you go back. And as for the second Senbonzakura, that's explained this chapter. True, Byakuya is acting rather ass like in my story, but he was a villain, or semi-villain, when I began watching Bleach. Lol, you and Shiro, I swear. Shiro is not a for sure thing in this story still, or even if there is a sequel, which is up in the air still. It's cool about not reviewing last chapter. I understand, things happen and you get busy. Thanks about Brutus and for the review!**

**Kattana: Yeah, I think the inauguration thing was blown totally out of proportion. Nothing was on thanks to it, though I mostly watch little television. Still, I do enjoy watching some TV, but not something like the inauguration all day long. I'm sure it was a nightmare for you there in DC. That always sucks. And true about the old lady, that was sad. Just reminds me how stupid people are, and how thoughtless they truly are, much like at Christmas when people are trampled to death for no reason. But yes, Daisy is doing well in her new box now. I'm glad you liked the chapter. True, I'd think anyone would feel sympathy for Iya's family. The Thirteen caused many problems within it, along with leading to the cause of the death of Inutaisho. True, if Iya manages to put Byakuya down, revenge will be sweet for him. Heh, never know, Sesshomaru may make it to that battle, but then again, he is busy protecting Rin and the other humans. Wow, I never thought I'd say he's protecting humans… But yes, Lilly seems to be holding her own with Kaia and has revealed her sword's true form and name, Haineko. Yep, she's still a half demon. Don't worry, that will be explained later. Never know about the others. Things could happen, or not. Thank you for your review!**

**That's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I appreciated both of them and am glad both of you liked the previous chapter.**

**Alright, to wrap things up, I'll make mention that this story is nearing it's end once more. I think I still have another 5-10 chapters, but I would have to guess under 5 really. With the ending approaching, I'll let you all know what I think I'll do once this story is done, whether there be a sequel or not. That's still up in the air, so no worries about me deciding one way or another.**

**Also, here is something that may get everyone to aspire to remember. Next week, on the 2****nd****, is mine and my mate's anniversary for dating one another. It will be our 8****th**** one, which I'm so happy that we made it through our 7****th**** year together with no problems. Anyways, just a tidbit of info so if I happen to have a question that asks, everyone will know.**

**At any rate, I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 62**

Racing to where the blonde haired dog mage sat sobbing over her fallen partner, the black haired dog hanyou gently knelt down next to her and softly said "Tsunade, come on, we have to leave. It's not safe for you to remain here."

Slowly raising her head to look at the dog hanyou, the female mage revealed her once bright and full of life amber eyes were now void, with barely a spark of life seemingly within them. Dried and wet blood coated her face where she had laid her head onto the dead male dog mage, while her hair was coated in the thick sticky substance also.

"He's gone..."

Knowing whom the mage meant, the dog hanyou quietly replied "Yes, Jiraiya is dead, but he wouldn't want you to lose your own life. Come on, let's get out of here before the battle begins."

"I can't leave him…"

Irked by the dog demon's insistence to not leave her partner's body behind, Iya heavily sighed and softly said "I'll carry both you and him out of here. Come on, let's get going."

Noting a small flicker of life within the female mage's eyes, the hanyou quickly moved and lifted the dead body of the male dog demon onto one shoulder while getting the female dog demon to stand. Gently, he grabbed hold of her by her waist and placed her onto his other shoulder. Grunting from his load, the hanyou quickly began sprinting away from the battlefield, leaving only the wolf mage and the quarter bobcat behind.

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Glancing behind himself and seeing that his partner had just left with the two dog demons, with one on each shoulder, the quarter bobcat returned his full attention to the wolf demon before himself. Scanning him, the quarter demon saw no weaknesses in the wolf mage, who remained completely still.

"I see that that pathetic half breed has rescued Tsunade. A shame I cannot end her life here and now, but I shall eventually." Byakuya coolly remarked.

Letting out a light grunt, Ichigo replied "I wouldn't worry about her. After all, you have me to deal with here. And once my partner gets back, you'll have both of us to fight."

Smirking, the quarter bobcat ran his index finger under his nose, saying "Of course, I may have taken care of you by then."

"Such impudence." the mage stoically commented.

About to reply, the quarter bobcat watched as the mage vanished into thin air. Reaching out and picking his sword up out of the ground, he quickly spun around and used the broad side of his sword to block the sword of the mage just as it was about to plunge into his back.

Pushing the mage away, the quarter bobcat tactfully remarked "You sure like using that speed of yours. To be honest, if I hadn't trained to fight with Kenshin, you'd have successfully killed me with that attack. Too bad for you I suppose that I managed to get fast enough to block, and that my eyes are able to track you."

Remaining quiet for a moment, the mage solemnly replied "All of your boasting and bragging will not change your fate. Talking to you serves no purpose. I shall cut you down, then I shall eliminate those that oppose me."

"Is that so?" Ichigo questioned. "Then you should know that I'm going to take you down. No matter what, I will not allow that!"

Vanishing in a flash, the quarter bobcat reappeared before the wolf mage while swinging his large cleaver blade at the mage. The mage parried the attack with his own sword and held back the large sword. Shifting his sword, the mage struck out at the quarter bobcat, only to have his own attack parried. Again and again, the two's swords struck one another, with sparks flying and the sound of steel clashing filling the air.

Separating from one another, the pair stared each other down for a long moment. At last, the wolf mage calmly said "I see, you are an opponent that can keep up with me. In that case, I shall take this battle more seriously."

"Is that a fact? Then you better come at me with everything you got!" the quarter bobcat declared while vanishing once more.

At the same instant, the wolf mage vanished as well. The two soon reappeared twenty feet from where they had stood, with their swords clashing against one another and sparks flying from the steel of the two swords clash. Again, the pair vanished, only to reappear in different spots across the battlefield with the two clashing their swords against one another's.

Reappearing finally across from one another, both examined the other for a weakness or opening, with each finding nothing. Calling forth his pink demonic aura, the wolf mage raced forward and slashed out at the quarter demon. With ease, the quarter bobcat managed to parry, only to find the power behind the attack was much greater than he anticipated. The ground beneath him was beginning to crack and crumble, causing the bobcat to lightly growl while his own light blue demonic aura flared to life.

Each pulled back their swords and lashed out at one another, only to have their aura's flare up once more while their blades scraped against one another. Repeatedly, the pair's blades struck one another while their demonic auras continued to flare out.

After ten minutes of continuous clashes, the pair finally separated with each staring one another down. Both fighters allowed their demonic auras to lower to where they were not radiating out of their bodies any longer.

"I see you have mastered your speed to the point it is even with my own. Don't think it will change anything. It won't." the wolf mage stoically remarked.

Placing his large cleaver blade onto his shoulders while placing his left hand on his hip, the quarter bobcat cockily asked "What is all this casual analysis of my powers? You said talk was useless, but here you are taking it easy on me. I thought you were going to kill me? Didn't you say you intended to cut me down?"

Letting out a light grunt, the bobcat flashed his eyes at the mage and boasted "You haven't even put a scratch on me yet, Byakuya. Does your silence mean that this is all you've got? Heh, I don't believe it."

Shifting his sword slightly, Ichigo fiercely declared "Show your Bankai, Byakuya! I know you have it!"

"Come on! I heard what you said!" the quarter demon growled out. "You told me you'd kill me first, then eliminate the others!"

"So I did." Byakuya coolly replied.

"I will not allow that!" Ichigo fiercely grit out. "I'm going to defeat you, Byakuya! I'm willing to risk everything, and I'm going to crush you till there is nothing left. You act as if you are far superior to anything and anyone within these lands, but you will fall here in this battle! I can't even imagine what kind of monster kills his own teammates that were willing to risk their lives for common ideals, and then use their children to further his ideals."

Pointing his sword at the mage, the quarter bobcat determinedly added "Release your Bankai now, or I'll kill you where you stand, Byakuya."

"What an empty threat." Byakuya calmly remarked. "All your boasting and bragging will not change my mind, and your own fate. You want my Bankai? Careful what you ask for, fool."

Bringing his sword before his body vertically, the mage coolly added "You will die, but it is a thousand years too soon for you to die by my Bankai."

Twisting his sword so the broad side faced the quarter bobcat, the wolf mage said in a commanding voice "Scatter Senbonzakura."

Glowing with a pink aura, the blade of the mage's sword began to dissolve into numerous sakura petals until only the hilt and guard was left. Immediately, the flower petals began dancing around the mage like a protective barrier. Spiraling forward towards the quarter bobcat, the petals formed a spinning vortex.

Standing completely still, the quarter bobcat drew back his sword and raised it into the air. He remained still for a few more moments, till the flower petals were nearly to his body.

Releasing a loud grunt, the quarter demon yelled "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Instantly, a blast of light blue demonic energy went racing forward in the shape of a crescent moon shape. The blast sliced easily through the numerous flower petals and clipped the wolf mage's left shoulder, causing small spurt of blood to spray out.

Staring at the quarter demon with emotionless eyes, the mage calmly remarked "I take it that that was your zanpakutō's true power."

"That's right." Ichigo replied firmly. Driving the tip of his blade into the ground, the quarter bobcat fiercely added "I'll say it once more, Byakuya Kuchiki. Attack with your Bankai now! I'm going to destroy you completely, with or without it!"

Standing silently for a moment, Byakuya coolly said "Alright then, since you're not willing to take no for an answer, feast your eyes."

Holding his sword up so that it pointed at the ground, the mage added "Behold the power you asked for. Bankai."

Watching the mage release his sword, the quarter bobcat mentally mumbled "_He let go of his sword?_"

"Don't worry, this will be over swiftly." the mage stoically commented just as his sword touched the ground and vanished into it, causing the quarter bobcat's eyes to widen a fraction in surprise at what had happened. In a cool voice, the mage added "You'll turn to dust and disappear before another thought passes through your head."

Without warning, a double row of one hundred large blades, with each reaching a height of about thirty feet, rose up from the ground with the mage in the middle of the blades. Each of the blades resembled the blade of the sword that the mage had dropped, with the only difference being their height and width.

In a calm and steeled voice, the mage said "Scatter Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Immediately, all of the blades glowed with a pink aura before dissolving into thousands of sakura petals. The quarter demon could hardly suppress a gasp of shock when all of the blades had vanished and what looked like a sea of pink flower petals floated around the mage.

Picking up the scent of the flower petals rushing towards him, the quarter demon quickly took hold of the hilt of his sword and began racing forward, only narrowly avoiding the first wave of flower petals that struck out at him. Keeping his senses on high alert, the quarter demon drew back his sword and readied it for a strike. Reaching the mage, he slashed out at the wolf mage, only to strike a barrier of flower petals that formed before the wolf demon at the same moment the quarter demon had struck out. Without warning, another wave of the flower petals swung around at the quarter bobcat, forcing him to take to the air to escape it.

Glaring down at the wolf demon, the quarter demon drew back his sword and swung it downwards, screaming out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Flying forward from the tip of the cleaver blade instantly was a light blue blade of energy in the form of a crescent moon. With the blast nearing the mage, the wolf demon glanced up at the quarter demon, saying "Pathetic."

With the wolf demon's words said, a wall of flower petals formed before his body and blocked the light blue energy blast. Upon the blade of energy being dissolved, the wall of flower petals took to the air and chased after the quarter demon.

Falling back downwards towards the wolf demon, the quarter demon turned his blade vertically and sliced through the wave of flowers coming at him. Flying behind the quarter demon, the split wave turned back towards it's target and reformed into a new wave. Using his blade to block the attacking wave, the quarter demon grit his teeth as the flower petals pushed him further up into the air.

Releasing a heavy growl, Ichigo screamed out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Upon his words being said, a light blue crescent moon shaped blade formed, cutting the wave of flowers in half once more. Reforming behind the quarter demon, the flower petals began to move forward, only to have the quarter demon quickly turn and swing his sword at the petals, causing another light blue blade of energy to form and slice through the flower petals.

Turning his head towards the wolf demon, the quarter demon gasped as three more waves of flowers formed from the wolf demon's sides. Watching them racing towards him and surrounding his body, he mentally declared "_I'll never make it!_"

Collecting together, the waves flung themselves and it's prisoner to the ground before dispersing after impact. Staring at the dust flying in the air, the wolf mage stoically said "Think of Senbonzakura like this: a relentless barrage from every direction by billions of blades attacking simultaneously."

"The abilities of your zanpakutō are more than I imagined. For your level of skill to kill Kenshin is impressive, yet leads me to believe he foolishly allowed you to execute him."

Watching the dust clear, revealing the quarter demon laying on the ground within a crater. He was panting heavily while blood dripped down from the side of his face and on his shoulder, which was revealed due that the top of his kimono top was ripped off. The remainder of his clothing had small slashes within it, with a majority of it being tattered and ripped.

Staring at the quarter demon impassively, the wolf demon added "However, your attacks are too broad and clumsy. You could never avoid the nimble assault of Senbonzakura."

Still panting heavily, the quarter demon slowly calmed his breathing. Keeping his eyes in the shadow of his hair, he grunted out "Damn, I thought I could do better than that. I should have known I couldn't do it. I just had to try though."

Weakly standing while gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, the quarter demon grit out "Guess it's foolish to think that I could ever beat a Bankai while only using my Shikai."

"That arrogant mouth of yours is going to be the death of you. You talk as if you've already achieved Bankai level." Byakuya commented in a monotone voice.

"Yeah…" Ichigo smartly remarked. Raising his head and revealing his fierce brown eyes, he added "You catch on pretty quickly, Byakuya Kuchiki."

Remaining calm, the mage asked "What did you say?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." the quarter bobcat firmly replied while standing up into his full height. "I think you heard me. Like Kenshin, you just don't want to believe it, do you? Then again, I don't care if you believe me or not. Kenshin didn't, and look where he is. You'll believe it yourself once I show you!"

Pulling his sword so that it was facing away from his opponent, the quarter demon firmly planted his right foot onto the ground, causing it to crumble further. Without warning, the light blue demonic aura of the quarter demon flared to life while swirling around his body. His eyes instantly changed from their brown color to a light blue color, making the mage's eyes widen slightly. With his aura continuing to flare out, the quarter demon's clothing began rustling while the ground around him was being torn apart.

Remembering his battle with the mage that had tried to take his mate away, the quarter demon couldn't help but remember how he had been powerless to stop him for years and to avenge his mate. With that in mind, his aura suddenly stopped flaring around his body. Thrusting his sword forward at the mage, the quarter bobcat placed his left hand on his elbow while the white cloth that hung freely from the hilt of his sword suddenly began wrapping around his right arm and shoulder.

In a ground out tone, Ichigo grunted out "Bankai!"

Without warning, his body began glowing with his light blue demonic aura again, but this time it was more calm and closer to his own skin. His eyes as well turned back into a shade of light blue. The blade of the cleaver sword instantly began glowing brightly as well, with light blue lightning flashing off of it's blade. The ground beneath the blade instantly began crumbling from the sheer power of the demonic aura above it.

Suddenly, a blast of white demonic energy went racing forward from the blade towards the wolf mage, who stood his ground and summoned a barrier made up of pink flower petals. Wild lightning began flashing from the sword that the quarter demon held, while a cloud of dust suddenly began swirling around him and obscuring him from the mage's sight.

Slowly, the dust cloud began dispersing, along with the barrier that protected the wolf demon who allowed his flower petals to scatter in the air. With the dust vanishing, it began revealing a black and tattered trench coat with red on the inside, along with a long black sword that shimmered in the sunlight. Hanging off of the hilt of the sword was a black chain that was half a foot in length and had a broken link on the end of it, while the guard on it had a spiral like shape. A moment later, the sword shot out a small white demonic aura, causing the dust to scatter and settle. Standing where he had once, Ichigo calmly said "Tensa Zangetsu."

"That's your Bankai?" the mage questioned with a touch of surprise in his voice. Returning his emotionless state to his voice, he calmly added "I see now. You continue to prove just how weak you are. Only a lonely quarter breed could have a Bankai so miniscule and weak like yours."

Glaring at the quarter demon, the mage slightly raised his voice as he said "I will show you what happens to those who tread on those things that are sacred. What you need is to be taught a lesson in how to truly unlock a Bankai."

Swirling around the mage, the flower petals suddenly went racing towards the quarter demon in the form of a wave. Just as it was about to reach him, he vanished completely. Eyes widening with shock, the wolf demon didn't have long to find the quarter demon, for he reappeared before the mage with the tip of his sword at the mage's throat. A small gasp of shock and surprise escaped the mage while the quarter demon remained still.

"It takes a lot of pride and honor to kill those closest to you, doesn't it?" Ichigo questioned. "It takes a lot of honor to take children away from their parents and force them to do as you please, and to fight for only one purpose!"

Growling lowly, the quarter demon added "If that's the kind of pride and honor you talk about, then you can bet your ass I'll mess with it!"

Leaping backwards and pointing his sword at the mage, the quarter demon grit out "I trained to get this power to avenge my mate. Now that I have, I'll use the same power to end your stupid pride."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Staring one another down, the neko and dog hanyou's examined one another for weaknesses or gaps in their defense, but neither found any flaws in the other.

"It seems we've come to a stalemate, Kaia." Lilly calmly remarked. "We're on equal footing it seems with our zanpakutōs."

Growling loudly, Kaia pointed her hand at the half neko, snarling "Shut up!"

Upon pointing at the neko, the dog hanyou sent her swirling flower petals at the neko hanyou, who stood her ground. The flower petals attempted to surround and cut up the half neko demon, only to hit a small gray barrier that kept all of the flower petals at bay. Having no effect, the dog hanyou finally recalled the flower petals, causing them to begin swarming around her body like before as a barrier.

"See what I mean?" Lilly admonished. Mentally, she mumbled "_When I attack her, the same thing happens. Neither of us are seemingly capable of penetrating the other's defenses._"

"_It seems you are truly capable of wielding my power, little neko._" the familiar voice of her sword's spirit remarked within her mind.

Smirking, she mentally replied back "_Thanks Haineko. If not for the training that Ichigo put me through, I'd never be ready. I'll have to remember to do something special for him once this is over._"

Shifting her attention back to the dog hanyou, the half neko noted that her opponent was loudly growling. Her teeth ground together while she harshly yelled "You will not make a fool of me! Do you hear me, you will not make me look like a fool before my master!"

Softening her expression, the neko hanyou quietly asked "Why do you care so much about that mage? He intends to kill anyone who gets in his way, or is of no use anymore. One day he may do the same to you."

"SILENCE!" Kaia yelled at the top of her lungs, making the half neko flinch while pinning her ears down to the top of her head. "You will not speak ill of my master you vile creature! My master is the greatest demon in this world, and he will soon rid the Four Lands of those useless Lords. Once he has, he will command all Four Lands!"

Remaining quiet for a moment, Lilly slowly unpinned her ears and softly asked "But what then once he rules the Four Lands? Do you honestly think he can control all of Japan!? And even if he can, what will become of yourself?"

"I will stand by my master's side while he rules these lands with honor and integrity, something none of the current Lords or their heirs have."

Smirking, the dog hanyou smartly added "Unlike your mate, my master is a man that honors his word and does as he says he will."

"Iya is more honorable than your master ever has been!" the neko fiercely remarked. Clutching at her chest, she added "He protected and took care of me when my family shunned me for becoming a half demon, even when I didn't deserve it due that I was scared of him and had ran away. Instead of turning away from me, he reached out a hand to help me. It was he that taught me how to fight, and swore to protect me with his life."

"And when the time came that his life was in danger, I made an oath to protect him with my own life. We are bound to one another eternally as mates. Nothing can ever change that."

Darkly chuckling, the dog hanyou smartly replied "Nothing but your own death, my foolish little kitty. You speak of Iya as if he is someone that is honorable and decent, but you are so wrong."

"Iya raped me without a second thought, and then the coward ran away, leaving me to fend for myself. His father made an empty promise to make things right, only it was as I said, an empty promise that left me with nothing but the pain and memories of that night."

With shimmering eyes, the dog hanyou added "Then the rumors began, saying I was the great whore of the Western Lands, how I had dishonored the son of the great Lord Inutaisho. It was said I had tricked him into taking me, and that I had hoped to move up from a servant to the status of a princess by mating with that filthy hanyou."

"I couldn't take it any longer. Iya had always been my friend, but after his betrayal, he refused to be near me or even look me in the eye when he was around me. Instead, he was busying himself with the new gift his father had awarded him. So I made my choice then and there. I left the Western Lands in humiliation, hoping to find somewhere that I would belong."

Calming herself, the dog hanyou slightly smiled and continued on, saying "That's when I met Lord Byakuya. He took me in and mended my heart. Without him, I would not be as strong as I am. He even had this sword, Senbonzakura, created for me after his own sword. It was he that taught me to wield it, and how to use it in order to take my revenge on Iya Taisho and all of his friends. That very thought has been the driving force behind everything I do. I will take my revenge on him for what he did. I will make him see how powerless he can be when I kill you, my little kitty."

"_She has been through so much. If Iya had known the pain she had felt so long ago, he would have done everything in his power to help her. All she has to cling to is her anger and hatred for him._"

Quietly, Lilly softly spoke up, saying "I am truly sorry for what happened to you in the past, but Iya would never have harmed you on purpose. I know because I've come to know his heart, more than you ever did, and I can honestly say he would never purposely allow you to have suffered like that. Had he known what was going on…"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Kaia snarled while turning her left palm towards the neko hanyou.

Immediately, the flower petals encircling the dog hanyou went racing forward and swarmed around the half neko demon, only to come into contact once more with the ash barrier that continued to circle her. For a minute, the flower petals assaulted the barrier, only to finally fall back upon the ash barrier holding firm.

Growling deeply, the dog hanyou charged forward with her flower petals forming around her sword. Readying her sword, she prepared to lash out at the neko, who raced forward to meet her opponent with her own sword similarly surrounded by her ash. The two blades slammed against one another, causing sparks to fly through the air and the sound of steel clashing to ring throughout the battlefield.

The pair clashed again and again, with neither one gaining the advantage. Watching the dog hanyou vanish into thin air, the half neko demon twitched her ears and began sniffing the air for any signs of the incoming attack. She soon sensed the demonic aura of the half dog demon, who reappeared behind herself. Quickly, the neko swung around and blocked the attack that was aimed at her back with the broad side of her sword. The two blades shot out sparks once more, with the dog hanyou growling loudly.

"JUST DIE!" she screamed while drawing back her sword and thrusting it at the neko over and over. Instead of panicking, the neko simply blocked all of the attacks with the broad side of her sword.

Deciding she had had enough of defending herself, the neko vanished in a flash, leaving the angered dog hanyou growling with fury. A moment passed before the neko reappeared to the right side of the dog hanyou. She slashed out at the dog hanyou, only to have her sword met by her opponents.

Pushing away, the neko hanyou retreated to a safe distance of fifteen feet. Lightly panting while staring her opponent down, the neko analyzed her opponent, hoping to find an opening or weakness in her defense, only to realize there was none. She did however note that the dog hanyou, like herself, was coated in sweat and each were panting.

"_Great, now what? I'm starting to get a little tired, but so is she. That's good and bad. It's bad for me since she has more experience, but good that Kaia may make a mistake. Her anger seems to be her only weakness that I've noticed so far. She's furious at the moment, meaning she's not clearly thinking. I just have to use that to my advantage, somehow._"

Awakened from her thoughts by the realization that the dog hanyou no longer stood where she once was, the half neko demon barely picked up the location of her opponent just as a sword came swiping in at her right side. With all of her strength and speed, the neko quickly began rolling to the left, only to have her side grazed by the dog hanyou's blade.

Quickly getting up, the neko let out a hiss of pain while cringing from the light pain throbbing on her side where the blade of the dog hanyou had hit. Reaching down with her left hand, the neko hanyou brought it up to see blood was coating her hand.

Allowing a vile smirk to play upon her face, Kaia tauntingly said "Looks like you're not as fast as you thought you were, eh my little kitty?"

Gritting her teeth, it took all of Lilly's self-control to not fire back a heated comment. Instead, she concentrated her mind on the wound on her side. Realizing it wasn't as bad as it felt, she glared at her opponent.

"_The pain isn't too bad, but she definitely wounded me enough to slow me slightly. Pretty soon, I won't be able to keep up with her. I have to end this, and end it now while I still can._"

"_Then what say you to ending this?_" the voice of her sword's spirit questioned.

Mentally sighing, the neko replied "_I would love to, but getting through her defenses is nearly impossible. They're very similar to my own._"

Hearing light chuckling of Haineko, the neko heard the spirit casually ask "_Are you afraid of her sword now? Do you wish to give up and allow her to overpower you?_"

"_Of course not!_" the neko harshly responded. "_I will not lose my life and drag my mate down with me. No matter what, I will defeat her, but how still eludes me._"

"_Did you learn nothing from her attack just a few moments ago?_"

Frowning within her mind, the half neko pondered on the words of her sword's spirit. Images of her last encounter with the dog hanyou rolled through her mind, of exactly when her opponent had managed to wound her.

"_I was distracted when she managed to hit me._" the half neko mentally admitted.

Receiving a reply quickly, she heard Haineko say "_That is correct. You were lost in thought and allowed her to catch you off guard. That is what you must do to her._"

"_Catch her off guard? Gee, I wouldn't have thought of that one._" the neko grunted.

"_I mean you must create an opening to do so. You can do this, I know that much. After all, your desire to protect your mate overrides all of your thoughts and desires._" Haineko remarked.

Realizing the spirit of her sword was correct, Lilly returned her full attention to the dog hanyou that was staring at her with a smirk. Pushing the pain from her wound aside, she calmly said "I must admit, you managed to wound me, but no more. I will do what it I must to finish you, for Iya's sake."

"For Iya's sake, you say? Don't patronize me." Kaia growled out. "I will not be bested by the likes of you."

Gripping her sword's hilt tightly, the half neko called forth her demonic aura, along with her sword's own aura. The pair swirled together, forming a stronger aura than before. Watching this, the dog hanyou performed the same actions.

"It's a shame that you must die, Kaia." the neko prodded the dog hanyou, which instantly got a reaction.

Growling, the dog hanyou snarled back "I will not be the one dying today! It is you and your mate!"

"Unlikely. It'll only be yourself and your master. Iya will deal him a blow that will send him straight to the depths of Hell."

Seeing anger flaring up in the eyes of the dog hanyou, the neko heard her scream "MY MASTER WILL OBLITERATE THAT MUTT!"

"Not so. Iya is far stronger than you know. You'll see once your master dies." Lilly remarked.

More anger appeared on the dog hanyou's face as she suddenly charged the neko. Not taking her eyes off of her opponent, the neko leapt forward herself and met the charging dog hanyou. The two half demons' blades clashed against one another, causing their auras' to flare out across the battlefield. Again and again, their blades clashed, with each time, neither side gaining the upper hand.

"Kaia, you will never fulfill your lust to kill Iya. Not so long as I am here." the half neko firmly stated.

Infuriated even farther by the neko's words, the dog hanyou vanished, only to reappear quickly behind the neko. Preparing to stab her in the back, Kaia screamed "DIE!"

Just as her sword was about to pierce the neko's back, the half neko demon vanished, leaving a stunned dog hanyou in her wake. Quickly appearing behind the dog hanyou, Lilly quietly said "Your time is up. Farewell, Kaia."

With her words said, the neko plunged her sword through the back of the dog hanyou, causing a loud gasp to fill the air, along with the splashing sound of blood falling to the ground in a puddle. The blade of the neko's sword completely pressed through the dog hanyou's body, with the tip sticking out a few inches in the front of her body and blood pouring down her chest. Drawing her sword out of her opponent's back, the neko stepped back a few steps while the dog hanyou slowly turned towards the neko. The dog hanyou's eyes were already dimming a bit while she cast a small glare onto the half neko demon.

Dropping her sword to the ground, the dog hanyou fell to her knees while placing her left hand on her wound. Realizing the blood pouring out of her wound was far too much, she weakly whispered "It's not over yet. He will still suffer..."

With her final words said, the dog hanyou fell forward onto her face. Waiting a few moments, the neko finally moved forward and settled onto her knees. Gently, she checked the vitals of the dog hanyou, finding that she was dead.

Falling back on her knees and laying down her sword, in a faint whisper, Lilly quietly said "I pray that you find peace in the afterlife, Kaia. You suffered greatly in this one, but most of it was brought on by your own hatred. I only hope that Kami has mercy on your soul."

Hearing footsteps, the neko quickly reached for her sword and sniffed the air, finding the scent approaching her was one that smelt of woods and cinnamon. Knowing who it was, she remained on her knees and released Kimi once more.

Listening to the footsteps stop beside of herself, the neko felt a hand fall on her shoulder and heard her mate ask "Are you alright?"

Not even bothering to look up from the sight of the fallen dog hanyou before herself, the neko quietly replied "I'm not badly hurt. Most of my wounds are just superficial. They'll be healed within a day or two, easily."

Glancing over at her mate, the neko hanyou saw that his face was set in stone. Peeking into his muddy brown eyes, she saw many different emotions swimming within them. Sadness was the easiest for her to identify, mixed in with guilt, along with relief. A twinge of raw pain was seen, but it quickly faded away, along with most of the others.

"Kaia…" Iya whispered in a soft voice. Gently, he reached forward and closed the fallen hanyou's glazed over eyes shut. In a tender tone, he softly said "I'm so sorry you had to suffer all these years for what I did. I know what I did to you that night I could never earn true forgiveness from you. Still, know that I never wished to harm you then, nor did I wish to now when you wished to fight me. I wanted you to just leave me be long ago, but instead you tried to take care of me, and in the end, paid the price for that."

Clenching his hands into tight fists while resting them on his knees, the black haired dog hanyou added "Still, the pain you inflicted upon my mate cannot be excused. I only hope you finally found the peace you were looking for upon your death. The memories of that night will never haunt you any longer, while I will live with what I did to you."

Picking up the scent of salt, the half neko glanced over at her mate, seeing a single tear sliding down his cheek. Gently, she reached over and brushed it away. In a quiet tone, Lilly softly said "Iya, we should bury her."

"Yes…" the male hanyou agreed sullenly. "But first thing is first. I must go back and aide Ichigo in his fight with Byakuya. I imagine he's holding his own, but for how long, I don't know."

Standing, the neko reached out a clawed hand to her mate and weakly smiled, saying "Then let's go to him and put an end to this."

Accepting her hand, the dog hanyou stood up beside of his mate. Glancing back down at the fallen form of his former friend once more, the hanyou couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt course through his body over leaving her as she was. Forcing himself to look away, he glanced at his mate, who was giving him another weak smile of encouragement.

Softly smiling back, he turned away from the body of the fallen hanyou and said "Let's go and finish off Byakuya Kuchiki."


	64. Chapter 63: The Unleashing

**Hey everyone! Well, my past week or two has been rather good. We had a lot of snow early last week on Tuesday, like 5 inches, but rain came in behind it, causing a lot of it to ice over, but then melt since the temperatures went up. Hmm, other news is I went to my grandparents like always this weekend, which was fun since my sister and her fiancé were there too. My grandpa had a good time. Heh, my sister teases him a bit, but he enjoys every bit of it. Plus he played with his little dog, which put a smile on his face. (/Sighs\) I guess watching him have a good time got me thinking of how long he'll be around. Other than the stroke, he has had no major problems during his lifetime. He's got diabetes and high blood pressure, but that's always been under control. Even now, my grandmother keeps that under wraps. I don't know, I guess I just worry about him, and about my grandmother. I only ponder what will happen to her without him. (/Shakes head\) Ack, can't go getting depressed. That helps nothing. I guess I'll just have to enjoy the time that I have with him and not think about what ifs. Yeah, that's a better idea.**

**So, I guess everyone noticed that I've once again completed a chapter for like the third or so week in a row. I'm surprised myself, especially with all that goes on with me. I guess working on this story while I'm home helps, hehe. I usually pick at it at work during breaks, but I'm starting to pick up on it some at home again, whereas before I didn't write hardly at all at home. But yes, this past week was a good week for writing.**

**Just so everyone knows, this story will be reaching it's ending by the end of this month. I think there will only be 3-4 chapters left, if not 2-3. It's kind of sad to know this story is coming to an end, but it was inevitable, unless I made it a never-ending fan fic, in which I would go insane, lol. But seriously, I do hope everyone has enjoyed what I have done thus far with this story, and continues to till the end.**

**Ok, here is something that struck me this week. I realized I haven't done one of these in a while, which leads me to doing this.**

**=== Trivia Question ===**

**Last week, I gave away the answer to this question, but I want to see who was paying attention to me. The question is simple, and applied to yesterday, February 2****nd****.**

**What was important about February 2****nd**** (other than Groundhog Day, for those who think it's that)?**

**If anyone answers this correctly in their review or PM to me, I will post a second chapter this week, dedicated in the name of the person who guessed correctly. I know, that's kind of silly, but I like throwing out a second chapter here and there if I can, which I can currently. If no one guesses, or I get incorrect responses, I may or may not post. Depends on what I'm doing.**

**Alright, moving along, it's that time once again. Yes, time for reviews!**

**mcsnellies: Lol, I like your reviews if your complaints about my story begin with it's too good. I may have misspelled 'flea' back in that chapter with 'flee.' I've yet to go back and check honestly. Too much thinking and not enough action I suppose on my part, lol. Heh, like I mentioned to you in my PM, Byakuya was seemingly a villain when I began watching Bleach, so I just cast him for the role of the main mage. Besides, he seemed the strongest one at the time out of that series. As for if Rukia and Byakuya are siblings in this story, the answer is no. Byakuya is a full wolf demon, while Rukia, prior to Kenshin, was a pure human. After Kenshin's spell, she was a half neko demon, like Lilly. At any rate, thank you for your wonderful review!**

**Kattana: Lol, thanks about the cat and dog fight, hehe. Yes, Ichigo seems to be holding his own, for now. The question is can he keep that up. You bring up a good point on Byakuya's feelings towards Kaia. One has to wonder what he felt for her since he seems to treat anyone with human blood within it as garbage. I suppose we'll find out if he truly loved her and would have made her his queen over the Four Lands, or if it was merely a ploy to use her to his advantage. Thank you for your review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. And thank you once more mcnellies for adding my story to your favorites, plus me as a favorite author. That means a lot to me when someone does either action, with the later being truly flattering. I usually only log someone as a favorite when I truly enjoy their work and find they deserve it, plus I recognize them as one of the better writers that I've seen.**

**At any rate, I hope everyone who reads this chapter answers my trivia question. I know I don't often opt for a second chapter anymore due that I'm behind on writing for this story, but I wish to do so for this one. So, anyone who knows the answer, or looks back a chapter and finds the answer, please, review or PM me. I will post another chapter within the day or so once I have the answer in your name.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 63**

Staring down one another, the wolf demon and quarter bobcat demon's clothing continued to rustle within the wind. Neither took their eyes off the other.

In a stale voice, the mage asked "Tell me why, why did you take the point of your sword away from my throat?"

Receiving no answer, the mage firmly added "Well, answer me. Arrogance destroys the footholds of victory."

Still yet to receive an answer, the mage stoically said "That move of yours is not Bankai. There could never be a Bankai as small and fragile as that. And a lowly quarter breed could never obtain Bankai. It's inconceivable."

Slowly picking up off of the ground and beginning to fill the air with a pink glow, the flower petals slowly rose up and encircling the wolf mage. In a cold voice, the mage said "With this attack, you will regret not slitting my throat."

Watching the quarter demon grip the hilt of his sword, the mage added "A miracle only happens once. Your luck has run out, boy."

With the words of the mage finished, four waves of the pink sakura flowers went flying forward towards the quarter demon. Just as the waves struck out at his body, the quarter demon leapt over the waves and began running towards the wolf mage. The waves quickly began sending out bands of smaller waves to intercept the quarter bobcat, only to have the quarter demon shift his shoulders and weight to avoid them.

Vanishing in a flash, the quarter bobcat reappeared only five feet away from the wolf demon and instantly slashed out at the mage, only to slam his blade into a wall of flower petals. The flower petal wall formed a wave quickly and began pushing the quarter demon into the air like before, only to have the quarter demon vanish and reappear on the ground ten feet away from the mage.

Quickly turning towards the quarter demon, the wolf mage cast his eyes on his target and sending another wave of flowers after it. Racing forward, the quarter demon slapped his hand to the ground and flipped into the air, easily avoiding the stream of flower petals while the chain on his sword rattled lightly.

Landing on the other side of the wolf demon, the quarter demon vanished into thin air as two waves of the pink flower struck where he was. Eyes widening a fraction, the mage grunted out in irritation.

"How are you moving so quickly?" the mage muttered with frustration building.

Watching the quarter demon vanish yet again, the mage sent several waves of flower petals out towards the quarter demon, only to watch him again and again vanish and easily avoid his attacks. Racing towards the mage with light steps, the quarter demon suddenly vanished completely, only to suddenly reappear rapidly in different locations around the mage, creating what looked like an afterimage of himself.

In a smug tone, Ichigo asked "What's the matter? Am I moving too slow for you? Just say so, I can move a little faster if you like."

"Don't get too cocky." the mage ground out. Turning a palm towards the quarter demon, the mage added "Such arrogance!"

With his palm turned towards the quarter demon, a stream of flower petals suddenly shot out from behind the wolf demon's body and went racing towards the quarter demon. The stream was faster than the previous waves, with it seemingly gaining ground on the quarter demon.

Eyes narrowing at the incoming attack, the quarter demon leapt out of the way of the stream that smashed into the ground. Instantly, the stream resumed it's chase, causing the quarter demon to vanish and reappear ten feet away. Just as he did, the stream struck out at him again. Repeating the process, the quarter demon came to a stop and leapt high into the air with the stream in hot pursuit.

Watching this, the mage turned his other palm towards the quarter demon, causing two more streams to join the other that were pursuing the quarter demon. Flying higher and higher into the air, the quarter demon suddenly vanished just as the three streams slammed together to form a sphere at the place where the quarter demon had just been.

Kneeling on one knee, the quarter demon's eyes widened slightly while he whispered "He got faster…"

Realizing he had no time to remain in one place, the quarter demon vanished just as the sphere of flowers came racing at him as a stream and slammed into the ground where he had once been.

Using his left palm to point at the quarter demon, the wolf mage calmly announced "Using the palms of my hands, I'm twice as fast. There is nothing I can't capture."

Flying high into the air once again, the quarter demon dodged several streams lashing out at him while more and more struck at him. Again and again, he vanished into thin air and continued to fly higher and higher into the air. Suddenly, he realized that he was surrounded by a netting of flower petal streams that were effectively enclosing him from the outside world. Without warning, he saw several streams flying towards him with the intentions of running him through.

"Nothing. I've got you." the mage coldly remarked while the streams prepared to ensnare the quarter demon.

The flower petals instantly enclosed closer on the quarter demon, seemingly drowning him in a sea of pink. Releasing a loud grunt, the quarter demon began swinging his sword in rapid directions around his body before finally stopping while swinging his sword out to his right side. Upon doing so, all the flower petals that had encircled him began floating away in a circling formation and falling towards the ground, seemingly of no use any longer.

"Impossible…" the mage whispered with shock on his face. "He sliced through all of them…"

Vanishing into thin air, the quarter demon reappeared behind the wolf demon with his sword on his right shoulder. In a smart and mocking tone, he asked "A miracle only happens once, huh? So then, what do you call this?"

Eyes widening in complete shock, the mage could hardly suppress a gasp. He quickly began turning just as the black sword of the quarter bobcat struck out at him.

Blood suddenly splattered to the ground instantly, staining it with the crimson red liquid. In a grunt of pain, the mage glared at the quarter demon while his right hand held onto the black blade. Blood dripped to the ground even more when the wolf demon squeezed the blade.

In a low tone, the mage muttered "I see, so that's how. That is how you overwhelmed Kenshin in your battle. By focusing all the fighting power of the Bankai in that small blade, that Bankai gives you incredible power. It's size, combined with it's intensity, allows you to fight unimaginable speeds."

Quieting for a moment, the mage grunted out "Even I have to admit, that the true power of your Bankai is impressive."

Clenching his hand around the blade of the quarter bobcat, the mage jerked on it slightly while growling out "Very well then. There is nothing for me left to do, but completely crush that power!"

Upon finishing his words, the mage's demonic aura roared to life, causing the very ground the pair stood on to begin shaking. Not affected, the quarter demon kept his brown eyes trained on the mage. The mage did the same thing while his aura continued to flare. All at once, it settled as he gripped the blade of the quarter demon even tighter, causing more blood to pour out of his hand. Without warning, he pulled backwards, allowing the blade to slice into his hand, causing more blood to pour out onto the ground. At the same time, the quarter demon slid backwards away from the mage.

"Watch carefully, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya coldly remarked.

Immediately, his pink demonic aura began flaring up around his body. The small blotches of blood on the ground glowed pink as well, with them evaporating and becoming a pink flame. The aura of the mage flared out like a flame and began surrounding the pair and shrouding them in a glow of pink. Swirling up into the sky, the glow slowly faded into a darkness that seemed to completely surround them.

In shock, the quarter demon began to speak up, only to have the mage say "What you see is what happens when I abandon all defense and risk everything to kill my enemy. This is the true form of Senbonzakura."

Appearing around the quarter demon and wolf demon on what looked like the dark walls were rows, with four in all, of glowing pink swords in the shape of the sword that the mage wielded earlier.

In a monotone tone, the mage simply said "Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Glancing around with surprised eyes, the quarter demon realized he was completely surrounded by the circling swords. Seemingly reading his mind, the mage began slowly stepping forward and calmly said "Don't worry though, this is just your funeral procession. The thousand swords all around you will not attack you at once, so relax."

"This Senkei is the form I show to only those few special enemies…"

Holding his right hand out, the mage stood still for a moment while his hand began glowing with his pink aura. Instantly, a sword on the wall came flying out to the mage and landed within his hand. Upon taking hold of the sword, the sword itself lost it's pink aura and was revealed like the mage's original sword did.

"… who are truly deserving of my vow to kill them with my own hands. You are only the second to ever see it."

In a somber tone, the quarter demon replied "I'm truly flattered."

Rotating his wrist so that the blade was vertical, the wolf demon's demonic aura roared to life around himself, causing the ground to begin ripping up. Moving his own black sword before his body and gripping it with both hands, the quarter demon's demonic aura flared to life also while ripping up the ground beneath himself.

"Here I come, Ichigo Kurosaki." the mage calmly stated before racing forward towards the quarter demon.

Letting out a small battle cry, the quarter demon charged forward himself. The two raised their swords into the exact same position with them both in a thrusting position next to their shoulders. Simultaneously, the pair swung their swords at one another, allowing the demonic auras to flare out while doing so. The blades clashed together, causing the ground to tremble beneath their feet from the pure power the pair wielded.

Separating, the pair came to a skidding stop twenty feet apart from one another. Racing forward, the pair clashed swords again, only to separate once more. Panting lightly while glaring at the mage, the quarter demon raced forward. The wolf demon did the same, with the pair leaping into the air. Raising their swords, the pair swung out at one another, with each flaring out their demonic auras, causing their blades to glow with a brilliant white light from the contact between them.

Upon hitting the ground, the pair split apart, with each skidding to a stop. Still panting lightly, the quarter demon paid no heed and raced forward. Striking one another's swords, the pair clashed over and over again, with neither gaining the upper hand. Still clashing, each received minor cuts from the other when their swords would cross against one another, with the tips inflicting shallow gashes.

Vanishing, the pair struck out at one another, again and again, throughout the small arena that the mage had created. Inflicting a small gash upon the quarter bobcat's shoulder, the wolf mage separated himself from the quarter demon and gave a puzzled look at the orange haired quarter demon.

Coming to a skidding stop, the quarter bobcat stared at the wolf demon while panting. "_So fast... I think he's gotten even faster since he revealed his Senkei to me._"

"_But still, it's nothing I can't match. I can go a little faster too._"

In an instant, the mage vanished before the quarter demon's eyes, making him quickly reach out with his senses to find the mage. He didn't have long to find him, for he suddenly reappeared with the tip of his blade only inches away from his nose.

Realizing the blade of the wolf demon was being thrust forward, the quarter demon turned his head slightly, but received a small gash on his right cheek. Before he could counter, the mage vanished and reappeared behind him about three feet away and staring in the opposite direction. Turning to meet him, the quarter bobcat, suddenly realized the mage had vanished once more and had appeared to his back with his sword prepared to be plunged into his chest.

Quickly reacting, the quarter demon used his own sword to slam the attack away. Holding his blade firmly against the wolf demon's, the quarter demon felt the mage slowly raising the two blades upwards.

"What's the matter?" the mage questioned in a cold tone. "You seem to be moving much slower than when we started, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Unaffected by the mage's words, Ichigo smirked slightly, saying "Is that a fact? I can still block your sword. When you move, it's almost like it's still stationary."

Seemingly annoyed by the tone of the bobcat, the mage cast his eyes to the left and opened his left hand. Suddenly, a pink sword flew from the wall into the open hand of the mage. Without hesitation, he plunged it into the right foot of the quarter demon, causing blood to spurt out instantly.

The quarter demon could hardly suppress a strangled gasp of pain, but didn't have long before the mage inched forward and pointed his left index finger at the quarter demon's right shoulder.

In a cold tone, the mage calmly said "Hado 4: Byakurai."

Eyes widening while the mage's finger began glowing with a light blue aura, the quarter demon was helpless to move when a stream of lightning poured out of the mage's left index finger. The stream easily tore through the quarter demon's right shoulder, leaving a smoking hole. Drawing his sword out of the quarter demon's left foot, the mage watched as the quarter demon stepped back a few steps while weakly gasping and let out a soft cough. Staring down at the ground, the quarter demon felt his body trembling in pain.

"It's over for you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Looking up weakly with defiant eyes, the quarter demon grit out "What'd you say?"

Without warning, the sword in his hands began shaking. He attempted to move, but found he could not. "_My body... I can't move…_"

"I gather, you think my movements became faster after using my Senkei." Byakuya coolly remarked. "That's not true. All that technique does is to compress my numerous sword fragments into one blade, in order to explosively increase it's killing capabilities. I haven't gotten faster."

Upon finishing his words, the mage stared evenly at the quarter demon while the sword in his hand began glowing with a pink aura and began to break apart till it was gone.

In a shaky voice, the quarter demon asked "So then are you saying, that what has actually changed here is I've gotten slower?"

"There is nothing for you to be ashamed of." Byakuya coolly stated. "You have defeated many high level demons within The Thirteen. You have gone far beyond what anyone thought you were capable of. You even survived slashes from the Senbonzakura."

Pausing for a moment, the mage added "But you can feel it now, can't you? Your body is dying. You are only a quarter demon, though your spirit isn't broken, there is a limit to what you can endure. You have reached that limit."

Holding his hand out, a pink sword appeared within the mage's hand. It immediately lost it's pink glow upon the mage taking hold. Raising his arm above his head, the mage stoically said "This is the end, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Gasping in shock while his eyes widened, the quarter demon's body shook and trembled while he attempted to move, only to find he still could not.

"_Move! I have to move! Move damn it!_"

Feeling his body trembling, the quarter demon growled mentally "_Why am I here, why have I come all this way!? It's all for nothing if I don't win!_"

Slowly, the quarter demon felt his eyes growing heavy suddenly while he whimpered in his mind "_I want to win… I… need to win!_"

Without warning, the quarter demon's hand raised up and took hold of the blade coming down at his head, stopping it dead in it's tracks while it cut lightly into his hand. Suddenly, a white like substance began forming before the face of the quarter demon and slowly took shape in the form of half a white mask with teeth near the bottom of it, that was just above the quarter demon's mouth, and three red stripes faded away from above a cut out eye hole, which had a glowing yellow eye within it. The quarter demon's other eye had changed as well, with his iris becoming yellow and cornea black.

A voice that sounded similar to the quarter demon's, but seemingly filled with insanity, spoke up from the quarter demon, saying "Ichigo, so disappointing. Here I had hoped you could win this fight, but it's a big problem for me if you get yourself killed."

In complete shock, the mage coldly said "That's impossible… Who or what are you!?"

Letting out a small dark chuckle, the insane voice asked "You want to know who I am?"

Releasing another small chuckle, the quarter bobcat raised his head, revealing his face with a cold smirk plastered on it. The voice suddenly said "I have no name!"

Upon finishing his statement, the quarter bobcat slashed out at the mage, causing him to let out a small cry of pain while the sword left a bloody gash from the mage's left hip to his right shoulder. Blood immediately splattered to the ground while the pair separated, with the quarter bobcat still holding the mage's sword.

Swinging his sword and knocking the blood off of the blade, the quarter bobcat let out an insane laugh, saying "Ichigo, what a complete amateur you are! Couldn't you tell!?"

Confused, the mage stared at the creature that was speaking, hearing it say "You've been getting crushed by the overwhelming power of your Bankai's demonic aura! Every bone in your body is creaking from the strain! You really are a hopeless case!"

In a quick motion, the quarter demon crushed the sword he held in his left hand that belonged to the mage, causing it to fall apart and transform into pink energy that was being released. With a smirk on his face, the quarter demon smartly said "So I'll show you how I use this Bankai!"

Hardening his eyes on the quarter demon, the wolf demon held out his right hand, causing a new sword to fall from the wall surrounding the pair and into his hand. Seeing this, the quarter demon swung back his right arm behind his body and quickly swung it back forward at the wolf mage.

Suddenly, a blast of black demonic energy, with a red glow also, began spiraling towards the wolf mage, whose eyes widened in surprise. "A black Getsuga?" he questioned.

Waking from his shock, the mage quickly vanished from the spot he had stood in and reappeared twenty feet away. He had little time to remain still, for the quarter demon leapt into the air and launched another black spiraling blast of demonic energy at the mage while releasing an insane laugh.

The mage once more vanished into thin air and soon reappeared on the opposite side of the arena, only to have the quarter demon racing towards him in a crazed speed. Swinging his sword wildly thrice, the quarter demon shot three blasts of demonic energy at the mage.

Quickly, the mage leapt backwards, only to feel a hand land on his shoulder suddenly, stopping him effectively from escaping the incoming attacks. A loud insane laugh filled the air just as the three blasts struck, causing a huge explosion.

Slowly, the dust settled, revealing the mage bleeding from a head wound on the left side of his face. The white ornament that held his hair in place was shattered on the front of his face. He was lightly panting while staring coldly at the quarter demon across from himself.

"What are you?" the mage questioned with a touch of fear seemingly in his voice for the first time. He asked "Are you lost in a blood haze that has made you into a full demon? And if so, how do you have so much power?"

Watching blood drip to the ground off of the wolf mage, the quarter demon smugly responded "Who cares!? I don't have to tell you anything, because as soon as I finish with you, you're going to…"

Before the quarter demon could finish his words, a new voice, the original voice of the quarter demon, commandingly said "Disappear."

Immediately, the yellow eyes of the quarter demon narrowed while his left hand raised up and grabbed hold of the mask covering his face. The insane voice quickly called out "Let go!"

Struggling and shifting about, the quarter demon swung his sword wildly through the air, seemingly striking out at an invisible opponent. Without warning, the quarter demon's body began glowing with his light blue demonic aura while his left hand continued to pull on the mask covering his face.

"You will not control me! Stop interfering!" Ichigo's normal voice declared while he continued to pull on the mask.

"You're the one who's interfering!" the insane voice responded while swinging the sword wildly through the air. "Don't you get it!? I was about to kill him! You will win if you'd just leave it to me!"

The mask covering the quarter demon's face began to separate slowly, revealing a dark black glow from underneath. Still swinging his sword wildly, the voice of insanity screamed "Damn you!"

With one last scream, the quarter demon ripped the mask off of his face, causing it to fall to the ground in chunks. Heavily panting, the quarter demon slowly raised his face, revealing his eyes were now their original brown color, but his face was streaked with sweat.

In a flash before the quarter demon could recover, the mage was in front of the quarter demon with his sword in full swing at his opponent's left side. Blood immediately splattered to ground in a loud splash, coating it in the thick crimson color. Letting out a strangled gasp of pain, the quarter demon fell to the ground, face first, with a loud thud, causing more of his crimson life force to pour out upon impact.

Staring down at the fallen quarter demon, the wolf mage coolly said "Had you continued to fight me in that form, the victory would have been yours. Now instead, your death has come about. How sad."

With difficultly, the quarter demon slightly shifted his head so that he was looking up at the wolf demon while gritting his teeth and letting out a low groan of pain. His trembling right hand tried to move forward, only to come to a stop after a few inches. Panting heavily, he glared at the mage while sweat poured down his face.

"I thought I had succeeded in cutting you in half, but it seems I did not strike deep enough." the wolf demon stated. "Still, for you to move and still be conscious is admirable. But I would lay still, for your spine is connected by a mere thread. And besides, your death is only a moment away."

Eyes widening while the mage raised the sword within his hand, the quarter demon attempted to move, only to find he was in tremendous pain and couldn't do more than shift slightly.

Watching the blade falling towards him, he whispered in his mind "_Iya, I tried. I'm so sorry I couldn't defeat him._"

Before the blade of the wolf demon reached halfway down to it's target, a series of icy spears roared through the wall of pink swords and effectively opening a hole within it and revealing daylight. Just as the blade was about to strike the quarter demon, the sound of metal striking metal filled the air.

Glancing up to see another sword, this one being a large halberd shaped like a fang with a black fur guard, the quarter demon could hardly suppress a gasp of shock.

"Looks I made it just in time, eh Ichigo?" Iya smartly remarked.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Racing towards the battlefield where he had left his partner, the dog hanyou glanced over at his mate, making sure she could keep up with himself. She was struggling to due to her wounds, but she did her best to keep pace with him.

"I'm sorry for pushing you so hard, Lilly." Iya mumbled remorsefully.

Shaking her head, Lilly replied "It's alright. We have to hurry. Ichigo could be in danger."

Nodding, the dog hanyou returned his attention ahead, seeing the clearing coming into view. He immediately picked up the scent of blood, much like his mate. Realizing it may overwhelm her, he quickly said "Try not to inhale the scent of the blood too much. It'll mess with your senses and make you possibly sick."

"Yeah… I guessed that much." the half neko retorted.

Reaching out with his senses, the dog hanyou quickly found the quarter bobcat's demonic aura, only to sense it weakening. Sniffing the air, he found the scent of his partner's blood was thick in one portion of the clearing. Realizing that the quarter bobcat was still in a battle with the wolf mage, the dog hanyou picked up speed, making his mate groan while she did the same.

Nearing the place where the scent of the quarter demon was strongest, the two hanyous saw a large black domed structure with four rows of pink swords surrounding it.

"What is that?" Lilly questioned with confusion in her voice.

Growling lightly while continuing to move towards the domed structure, Iya grit out "If I had to guess, it's a barrier that Byakuya created. I've never seen anything like that before, but I'm sure it's like all barriers, it can come down!"

Quickly moving his right hand to the hilt of Ketsaiga, the dog hanyou drew the sword, sparking it's transformation immediate. Reaching out with his senses once more, he quickly analyzed that his partner's demonic aura had just dramatically faded while the scent of his blood had increased. With this information, the dog hanyou called forth the icy transformation of the halberd, causing it to coat in ice and release frosty steam immediately.

Leaping high into the air, he drew the sword to his right side and swung it hard to his left while screaming out "Shard Storm!"

Thousands of small ice daggers formed immediately and raced forward. All of them scored a direct hit on the barrier and created a hole within the wall of it. Landing on the ground, the hanyou wasted no time and raced through with his mate quickly following behind him.

Seeing his partner was on the ground and the mage was in mid-swing of his sword to end the quarter bobcat's life, the dog hanyou vanished in a flash and reappeared to the side of the quarter demon while blocking the sword of the wolf demon.

Glancing down to see the shock and surprise on his partner's face, Iya smartly said "Looks I made it just in time, eh Ichigo?"

"Another interruption." the mage grunted.

Returning full attention to the mage, the dog hanyou quickly shoved the mage backwards with all his strength, sending him skidding away about twenty feet. A moment later, the half neko appeared at the side of the quarter bobcat.

Looking over his body and checking his wounds, the neko quickly said "Iya, Ichigo is in bad shape here. We have to get him out of here."

Nodding, Iya calmly replied "I know that. Lilly, I want you to take Iya out of here. Search out Tsunade. She's close by still with Jiraiya's body. See if you can snap her out of her daze and get her to heal him up some. Hopefully she'll help out and take care of Ichigo until Orihime gets back. She'll be able to finish up healing him."

"What about yourself?" Lilly questioned.

Remaining focused on the wolf demon, the dog hanyou replied "I'm staying here to finish what Ichigo began. It's only right that I take that mage down. We can't afford to let him escape."

In a faint whisper, the half neko asked "Are you sure you can handle this alone?"

"There is no time to argue." Iya firmly replied. "Ichigo will die soon if we don't get him some help."

Softening his tone, he added "Besides, I've waited for two and a half centuries for this chance to take this mage on. I know I'm ready. I'm tougher than Ichigo, even with his Bankai. Don't worry."

Noting his mate was quiet for a moment, the dog hanyou began to speak, only to have the neko hanyou cut him off. "Promise me you'll come back to me. I made a similar promise, so I want you to make the same to me."

"I promise, no matter what, I will come back to you, Lilly." the dog hanyou declared with tenderness in his voice. "Now get going. Ichigo won't remain conscious for much longer, and if he slips unconscious, who knows if he'll wake up."

Nodding to the back of her mate, the neko hanyou carefully lifted the quarter bobcat onto her back. Taking one last look at her mate, she whispered "Please win. I don't want to lose you."

"Worry not, my mate." a faint whisper replied from the dog hanyou. "I will return, I swear it."

Believing in the words of her mate, the neko quickly turned away and raced through the hole in the barrier. Once she was out, the barrier slowly repaired itself before closing out any daylight that tried to enter once more.

"Foolish of you to remain, half breed." Byakuya coolly spoke up. "What do you think you can do to me?"

Remaining calm, Iya smoothly said "I intend to stop you, once and for all, Byakuya Kuchiki. No matter the cost, I will eliminate you from this world."

"How absurd." the wolf demon grunted. "You do not have the power to carry out such a threat."

Unfazed by the wolf demon's words, the dog hanyou replied "I assure you, I can stop you, though I wish you were at full strength, so I could prove to you that I am capable of such a feat."

Standing in silence for a moment, the mage slowly began a series of hand signs. After a few moments, he finally finished, saying "Healing Spell: Self-Recovery."

Instantly, the body of the wolf demon began glowing with a light green aura. The numerous cuts and wounds that were visible on his body suddenly began fading, with his skin knitting neatly back together. At the same time, his own demonic aura began to increase from the level it was at.

The glow finally faded, leaving the mage standing with seemingly no damage on his body any longer. Seeing this, Iya raised an eyebrow, asking "I take it that spell just helped you heal your body and returned your energy, correct?"

"That is correct." Byakuya shortly remarked.

Frowning, the dog hanyou replied "A spell that powerful has drawbacks I'm sure."

Receiving a nod, the mage slowly said "Over the years, my unused energy is collected and sealed away within my body. When I release that seal, that energy is used to heal my body, as well as restore all of the power I have lost. Unfortunately, this spell only works once a day, and is limited to the amount of energy that I use from that collection. I must admit, that quarter breed forced me to use all of my reserves."

Raising his hand up to point to the ceiling of the dome that entrapped the pair, the demonic aura of the mage flared up. The dome responded, with the pink swords vanishing and the barrier vanished at once. With the dome gone, a swarm of pink flower petals began encircling the mage for a few moments before falling to the ground.

Seeing confusion on the hanyou's face, the mage coolly said "I will fight you with my Bankai in it's original form. The fight you intruded upon was meant solely for that quarter breed. He was deserving of that fight. You are not."

"Not surprising you would think that way." Iya commented. "After all, I'm nothing but another half breed who deserves nothing but death in a brutal way, at least according to yourself."

Pointing his sword at the mage, the dog hanyou calmly said "Kaia, your slave, has been slain by my mate."

"Should I care?" the mage asked.

Unfazed, the dog hanyou replied "I'm not too surprised by your response. I do have a question for you though. Why did you give Kaia the false sense of love?"

"To manipulate her easier." the mage stoically remarked. "When I found her almost three centuries ago, she was a weak human who clung to hatred towards you. I took pity on her and helped her. I constantly showed false signs of caring for her, which drew her closer to myself. Eventually, she asked for me to make her my slave. I didn't at first, showing feigning signs that I cared for her. This made it so much easier to turn her to my side. Eventually, I did give in and made her my slave, but that was a part of my plan all along."

"I knew her anger and hatred for the Western Lands would be helpful. She had information on areas within the Western Lands, giving us an insight to how the West thought and defended itself. We used this information years later to invade and avoid detection while the Lord of the West was away on patrols, along with his two sons. Upon capturing a few human slaves, The Thirteen laid a trail for the Lord of the West to follow. Eventually, he gave the task of hunting The Thirteen to his youngest son, you."

Pausing for a moment, the mage added "Manipulating Kaia was easy, but keeping her anger in check was somewhat troublesome. She had a deep seeded anger and hatred for when you raped her. That anger jeopardized several missions, but in the end, I managed to have her reign in her feelings."

"Still, I feel nothing over her timely death. She was of no further use. I knew if she proceeded to chase after you, she would surely die. Not at your hands of course, but at your mate's."

Staying quiet for a few moments, the half demon slowly said "So that's why you allowed her to come after me. She was nothing more than another pawn in your plans."

Clutching the hilt of his sword tightly while his demonic aura flared up around his body, the dog hanyou fiercely looked into the mage's gray eyes. In a tight voice, he slowly said "No more, Byakuya Kuchiki. I will not allow you to harm and exploit another person."

"All of your boasting and bragging will not change a thing." the wolf mage coolly replied. "You have not the power necessary to kill me. Today, I shall rid myself of all those that stand in my way of conquering the Four Lands."

Aura still flaring, Iya tightly remarked "I won't let you. "

Vanishing in a flash, the half demon reappeared five feet from behind the wolf demon. Instantly, flower petals sprung to life from the ground and went after the dog hanyou in a wave formation. When they struck out, they hit nothing, for the hanyou no longer stood where he was, but was directly behind the wolf demon.

"Do you think your level of skill can subdue me?" Byakuya questioned in an emotionless voice.

Not even hesitating in his response, Iya calmly replied "I intend to take you down today, Byakuya Kuchiki. No matter the cost, I will not allow you to remain in this world. I'm willing to risk everything to bring you down, so don't think you're going to walk away from this battle."

"Brave words, for a half breed." the mage remarked.

Vanishing in a flash, the dog hanyou reappeared before the wolf demon with only ten feet between the pair. Casting his muddy brown eyes upon the mage, the half demon calmly spoke, saying "This ends today Byakuya. No longer will you harm anyone, be it my friends, my family, or any other innocent people."

"Then come stop me, half breed."


	65. Chapter 64: Ice and Flowers

**Hey everyone! Guess what, someone got the question right in their review! Actually, two people did, which makes me very happy that you all figured it out. The answer to the question, which was what was important about February 2****nd****, was it was mine and my mate's 8****th**** anniversary since we have been together. We've only been married 2 ½ years, but our dating anniversary is still important. Not as much as it once was, but is still important nonetheless.**

**At any rate, the one to first correctly guess this was Kattana, so this chapter is dedicated to you. Also, .lover guessed the answer correctly too, so congrats to you.**

**And now, I'll go ahead and run through the reviews right quick.**

**.lover: I'm glad you really like my story. I try to keep details high in my priorities when working on my stories, for without them, you have no clue what's going on or what the people are actually doing. Just something I've always tried to do. Thank you for your answer to my trivia question. I appreciate it. And thank you for your review!**

**Kattana: True, Ichigo could have defeated Byakuya twice, but chose not to. More than likely the first time, he was proving a point. The second time, he wouldn't have actually killed him. It would have been whatever it was that was controlling him that did it, which wouldn't sit well with Ichigo I would assume. But true, it seems Iya is the only one left to finish the job that his father gave to him. Thanks for the answer to the trivia question, and we did have a good anniversary. A very good anniversary indeed, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate them. And also, thank you to alice's sister for adding this story to your favorites. I am truly flattered when people add this to their favorites. Makes me realize just maybe, just maybe I'm doing an alright job, lol. But again, thank you, all of you, for your continuous support. I really appreciate all of it that I get. And to any who read this story and don't review, if you have opinions or questions, or just general comments, feel free to review or PM me. I won't bite. Well, I may bite my mate, but none of you have anything to fear, hehe. Anyways, I look forward to hearing from all of you on the reviews for this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 64**

Staring down the wolf mage, the black haired dog hanyou gripped the hilt of his halberd a bit tighter. In a split second, he vanished, but the wolf mage remained still. A moment passed before the hanyou reappeared to the mage's right side about three feet away.

Swinging with all his might, the half demon attempted to decapitate the wolf demon, only to slam the full power of his sword into a barrier of pink flower petals that had rose up off of the ground next to the mage. Quickly moving just as the petals swept towards him, the half demon came to a skidding stop while eyeing the mage warily.

"_His defenses are quite admirable. I've faced few opponents with such powerful defenses, but there has to be a weak spot. After all, Ichigo managed to find one, so I can too._"

Examining the few flower petals that still hung in the air and circled the mage, the half demon mentally whispered "_He's controlling them with his mere thoughts. It's not likely I'll be able to disrupt his thought patterns. No, his emotions are well guarded, meaning that would be fruitless. It'd be like trying to get Sesshomaru out of his own emotionless state._"

"_If I had to guess, Ichigo used his speed to get to the mage. I'm just as fast as him, but I'm guessing he used his Bankai against Byakuya, which from what he told me gave him a speed boost, meaning I won't be able to move quite as fast. Still, I should be able to avoid the attacks, for now._"

Eyeing the floating flower petals, the half demon mentally smirked, saying "_I know what to do. I only hope that works._"

Charging forward at a slow pace at first, only to pick up speed and suddenly vanish, the half demon struck out at the wolf demon, only to slam his sword into the pink flower petal barrier once more. Vanishing once again, the hanyou reappeared on the opposite side of the mage and struck out again, only to hit the same barrier. Again and again, the half demon vanished and reappeared, only to strike out at the mage and hit the barrier again and again.

"Is this the extent of your skills?" the mage questioned emotionlessly.

Beginning to race circles around the mage at a pace in which was barely visible and slashing out at the pink flower petal barrier continuously, the dog hanyou smartly replied "Hardly. I'm just getting started."

"You waste your time, thinking my barrier will fail. Senbonzakura has never failed me before, and it will not fail in protecting myself from a half breed like you."

Taking the wolf demon's words as a challenge, the hanyou sped up, causing dust to rise up from the ground where he was circling the demon so quickly. Calling forth the icy transformation of his sword, the hanyou watched as the blade suddenly coated itself in ice and frosty steam began to pour off of it.

With a small smirk, he struck out at the barrier with a heavy blow and cried out "COLD WAVE!"

Instantly, the flower petals encircling the mage at the spot specifically began freezing over into a sheet of ice, causing the mage's eyes to widen a fraction. The ice quickly began to spread around the barrier, icing over many flower petals. Before all the flower petals could freeze over, the mage raised his right hand, causing a stream of flower petals to come shooting out from behind himself at the dog hanyou.

Seeing the incoming attack, the hanyou attempted to leap out of the way, only to have his left arm clipped. The sleeve of his kimono instantly was shredded while his skin received many gashes.

Finally managing to separate himself from the mage, the hanyou glanced at his left arm. Finding it still moved and none of the gashes were too deep, he refocused all of his attention on the mage.

"Did that attack frighten you, Byakuya Kuchiki?" Iya confidently questioned.

Glancing at the frozen flower petals and then back up at the hanyou, Byakuya replied in a stale tone, saying "Hardly. It is surprising though that you can freeze Senbonzakura in place."

"That's just a sample of what I can do." the hanyou remarked with a small smirk on his face. "If you have any hesitation about continuing, you'd better say so now. Otherwise, I'll just have to continue my assault."

"Your words are nothing to me, half breed." the mage coolly stated. "I fear nothing you can do."

Gripping the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly while calling upon the icy form, Iya firmly replied "Careful what you say, Byakuya Kuchiki."

With his words said, the hanyou vanished into thin air. The mage's eyes quickly shot to the right as the blade of the hanyou's halberd sliced at him. The flower petal barrier rose up and protected it's master immediately, only to begin to freeze from the contact with the icy blade. Shifting so he was turned towards the hanyou, the mage turned his right palm at him, sending a stream of flower petals to crush his opponent.

Knowing based on what he had seen before, the hanyou quickly leapt away just as the stream began moving towards him. Realizing the stream was following him still, the hanyou quickly raised his sword and slammed it into the ground, screaming "Ice Barrier!"

Rising before the half demon instantly was a wall of thick ice. The flower petals were about to slam into it, only to suddenly split in two and go to each side of the ice. Realizing the predicament he was in, the dog hanyou took to the air to escape the pursuing flower petals, only to find them following.

Turning towards the flower petals, he reversed the icy blade's transformation to it's normal halberd form. With a might swing, he screamed out "Wind Slash!"

A blast of white demonic energy immediately went racing forward and cut through the stream of flowers, seemingly disintegrating them. Before a moment could pass, another stream of flower appeared behind the hanyou and struck him in his right shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain with blood spurting out from his wound. The sword in the hanyou's hand instantly fell to the ground, along with his own body soon enough. He hit the ground in a kneeling position, clutching his shoulder wound with his left hand while gritting his teeth.

Calmly walking towards the kneeling hanyou, the mage solemnly said "You are no match for the nimble assault of Senbonzakura. Evading it is impossible."

Letting out a low growl while clutching his wound still, the hanyou stood back up and released his hold on his wound. Stepping forward and reaching down to pick up his fallen blade, the hanyou immediately transformed the blade from it's normal form back into it's transformed state. Staring at the mage for a moment, he steeled his emotions before racing forward.

"Foolish half breed, do you never learn?" the mage questioned.

Vanishing like before, the hanyou began racing in a circle around the wolf demon. Paying attention to his enemy's movements, the mage remained still while the pink flower petals began dancing around his body.

Suddenly, the hanyou came to a stop and raised his sword up, with the hilt in the air and the blade pointed at the ground. Driving the blade into the ground, the hanyou yelled "Aisu Mirā!"

Immediately, twenty walls of ice shot out of the ground and formed a circle around the wolf demon. Appearing above the ice walls were another set of ice walls, then another set, and then another till what looked like an icy domed barrier had been formed. There were gaps between the ice walls large enough for a person to slip through, yet the mage remained still.

Drawing his sword out of the ground and placing it onto his shoulder, the hanyou coolly said "It's your lucky day, Byakuya Kuchiki. I've been holding this technique back for quite a few years for just such an opponent."

"What are these walls of ice?" the mage questioned.

Smirking slightly, the hanyou slowly began explaining. "These walls of ice are a part of an attack that I learned during my training with Ketsaiga when I was younger. I haven't used it for many years, for it wasn't refined enough for any opponent, until most recently. You may have been able to avoid my other attacks, but this technique will bring you down."

Glancing at the walls of ice, the mage grunted out, asking "Do you honestly think you can keep me from escaping, or destroying your precious ice?"

"I do." Iya firmly replied.

"Then you are a bigger fool than I thought." Byakuya answered.

Immediately, the flower petals dancing around his body flared to life, with a wave of them flying out at the nearest wall on the ceiling. The petals struck it hard with full force, only to not destroy the wall, but merely shave off a small bit of icy frost.

Eyes narrowing, the mage asked "What is this? It is not possible for your weakling ice to withstand the assault of Senbonzakura."

"Normally, you might be right." the hanyou remarked, but added "That isn't the case with these walls of ice, or I should say my Ice Mirrors. The ice that is used to create these walls is far stronger than normal ice. To create them, I have to tap into the depths of Ketsaiga and my own powers. Once formed, these walls will hold up to nearly anything."

Staring evenly at the hanyou, the mage questioned "Is that so?"

Raising his right hand so it was pointed at one of the walls of ice on the ground, the mage coolly said "Hado 31: Shakkahou."

A sphere of red energy immediately formed in the palm of the mage. Without warning, it went racing forward and slammed into the wall of ice that the mage had been targeting. A small explosion filled the air for a moment, hiding the results of the attack in a cloud of smoke. The smoke slowly cleared after a moment, earning a small gasp of surprise from the mage when he saw the wall still stood and seemed unfazed.

"I told you already, Byakuya Kuchiki, that this ice is different. This ice is much harder and thicker than anything you've ever seen. The ice demon of The Thirteen, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, may have been able to make harder ice, but doubtful since he did not use it against me."

Not saying anything, the mage raised his right hand once more and turned it towards the wall of ice like before. In a calm voice, he slowly began saying "Oh rulers, he who is crowned with the name is a mask of blood and flesh, 10,000 images and the fluttering of the wings! The inferno and violent turbulence! Severing the seas, reversing the tide so that is heads to the south. Hado 31: Shakkahou!"

Like before, a red sphere of energy flared to life within the wolf demon's right palm. This time though, the energy seemed more concentrated and a bit larger. Like a rocket, the sphere of energy went flaring towards the wall of ice and slammed into it, causing a larger explosion than previously. Slowly, the smoke that had formed upon impact cleared, revealing that the wall of ice was indeed still standing, and still seemed unfazed like before.

"Impossible…" the mage ground out.

"Byakuya Kuchiki, you seem to have a hard time believing in the fact that I say this ice is nearly indestructible." the hanyou evenly declared. "That ice will not break or bend to your spells, or your zanpakutō."

Lowering his hand, the mage turned his full attention to the hanyou. In a cool voice, he said "So I see. Then you leave me no choice, Iya Taisho, but to destroy you completely."

Unfazed by the mage's words, the hanyou slowly began stepping backwards towards the nearest wall of ice. Calmly, Iya said "We shall see, but first I shall show you the power of Aisu Mirā. What you see now is but the first part of my attack."

Reaching the wall of ice behind himself, the hanyou stretched a clawed hand out to touch the wall, but instead of touching the solid ice, he seemed to melt into it. Stepping back into the wall of ice till he seemed incased within it, the hanyou raised his sword, seemingly ready to fight.

Not saying a word, the mage watched as the hanyou suddenly vanished from the ice wall, only to watch as the hanyou's image suddenly appeared in each of the ice walls.

"It is time to show you what this attack truly does by demonstrating the second part of my attack." Iya calmly stated.

Upon the hanyou finishing his words, the ice mirrors began to gleam with a brilliant blinding light blue light, forcing the mage to shield his eyes. Without warning, the sound of the hanyou's voice filled the air, with him screaming "Wind Slash!"

Racing out of one of the ice walls, a blast of white demonic energy flew towards the wolf demon, who remained in the same spot he had been in. The pink flower petal barrier immediately formed and repelled the attack. Before the flower petals could settle, another blast struck the barrier, then another, and another.

"SHARD STORM!"

Looking for the source of the yell, the mage could hardly suppress a gasp of irritation as numerous ice daggers came flying in at him. The flower petals tried to block the ice daggers, only to be destroyed themselves and allow some of the daggers through to the mage. Several scored hits, with only superficial damage seemingly done, but drawing blood that splashed to the ground.

Unable to collect himself, the mage heard another roaring blast of white demonic energy coming at himself. The flower petals that remained effectively blocked the attack, only to be struck by a series of ice daggers. With nothing between himself and the daggers, the mage was struck again by the icy weapons and received a few more gashes, with one on his right cheek most noticable.

Reappearing in a single ice mirror, the hanyou stared at the mage while panting lightly. "_Damn, I didn't inflict sufficient damage._"

Attempting to catch his breath, the half dog demon focused all of his attention on how he seemed to be faring. "_This attack is really taking it out of me. It's been so long since I've used it..._"

"_No time to grumble about that though. To use this, I have to draw out so much power from not only myself, but Ketsaiga as well. İt takes a tremendous amount of Ketsaiga's power just to form the ice, but then using the mirrors puts that much more strain on myself. İ had never intended to use Shard Storm within this attack, but I had to improvise since Wind Slash wasn't getting through. Both of those attacks take a bit out of me, but the longer I keep this up, the more energy I'll burn up. İ have to finish this soon, or Byakuya will win._"

Noting the mage was still standing in the same spot he had been in but was examining his wounds, the hanyou suddenly saw the mage glare at the mirror that he stood in. İn a cold voice, Byakuya said "Very well then, I see I have not given you the proper credit you deserve. It is curious how a hanyou like yourself is able to wield such power. Even I must admit that your powers are impressive."

Clenching his hands tightly, the mage added "I have but one choice, and that is to fight you like I did that quarter breed."

Unsure what the mage meant, the hanyou began to speak, only to be interrupted by the wolf demon's demonic aura flaring to life. The pink aura quickly spread out around his body and the battlefield, seemingly blazzing outside of the icy walls and surrounding them in a larger spread area. Immediately, a black domed struction formed, with four rows of pink glowing swords forming on the wall of the dome that slowly circled.

"Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Glancing at his surroundings, that half dog demon was shocked by the sight. "_This is where Ichigo was fighting earlier. What does this mean?_"

"I take it, you are curious to what this is." Byakuya spoke up as if he had read the mind of the hanyou. "This is the true form of Senbonzakura. What you see is what happens when I abandon all defense and risk everything to kill my enemy."

Holding his right hand out, the mage's hand glowed with his pink demonic aura, causing a sword on the wall to move to his hand. The glowing sword dulled to it's normal form upon landing in it's master's hand.

"Like I told that quarter breed, I only show this to those few special enemies who are deserving of my vow to kill them with my own hands. You are the third to ever see it."

Slightly shocked at the words of the mage, the hanyou mentally asked "_He intends to fight me as an equal? Intriguing..._"

Finally catching his breath, Iya calmly said "I see. Then I shall fight you fairly as well."

İmmediately, the walled ice began crackling and suddenly cracking up. A moment passed and the icy walls suddenly exploded, leaving only chunks of ice behind, along with the half dog demon.

Moving Ketsaiga into a ready position before his body, the hanyou said "I am ready then."

Releasing a burst of his demonic aura, the wolf demon coolly replied "Here I come, Iya Taisho."

Summoning his own demonic aura, the hanyou raced forward to meet the charging wolf demon's attack. The two met in the middle of the battlefield, with their blades clashing against one another, causing a small explosion from the impact of their two demonic auras smashing into each other. The force of the explosion sent the two skidding away from one another.

Coming to a stop, the hanyou charged towards the wolf demon, who likewise did the same thing in return. The pair's blades clashed once again, sending sparks flying into the air, along with the sound of steel singing out. The two blades locked time and time again, with each opponent trying to force the other back, only to come up short and clash again.

Finally seperating after ten minutes of trading attacks, the pair stared one another down, each examining the other for any weaknesses. Both had received minor cuts from their attacks on one another, but nothing to slow either opponent down.

Panting slightly, the dog hanyou eyed the wolf demon carefully. Focusing on the mage's forhead, the hanyou noted that the mage had begun sweating. Meanwhile, the mage saw that the hanyou was drenched in his own sweat and having a bit of difficulty catching his breath at the moment.

"Impressive for a half breed." Byakuya smoothly remarked. "I would have surmised that you would be dead by now."

Still panting lightly, Iya ground out "I'm full of surprises."

"Indeed." the mage replied. "I had determined long ago, when you began trailing us, that you would never last long. You, a bastard son of the Lord of the West, nothing but a mere half breed, would stand no chance against the might of The Thirteen."

Pausing for a moment, the mage added "I was proven wrong when I allowed Kenpachi Zaraki to fight with you. Not only did you defeat a founding member, who was the weakest of the four of us, mind you, but you managed to kill his slave, who was in her berserker state."

"It was surprising, to say the least, that you managed to defeat one of The Thirteen. İ had wished to get rid of them over time, but it had not crossed my mind that you would defeat several of them on your own. Like many of The Thirteen, I had thought your victory over Zaraki was nothing more than a fluke. I tested this theory years later by sending the Elric Brothers to fight with you, and you did not disappoint."

"Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the Elric Brothers were both defeated in combat with yourself. When I learned of their defeat, I realized then that you would be a true threat to finish off the remainder of The Thirteen. It was my hope that over time, you would finish them off, one by one."

"Still, I did require them for two tasks." the mage quipped. "I needed them to continue weakening the Four Lands. I knew in time, their usefullness in doing so would come to an end, but for the time being, I required them to continue their assaults against the Four Lands. The second reason I still needed them was for each of them to continue taking slaves and producing children for my army of three-quarters demons to continue to grow."

Frowning, the hanyou asked "Why did you have an army of three-quarters demons created? İ thought you detested anything human."

"That may be the case and true, but the children of The Thirteen were taught from birth to be blindly loyal to me. Any that dared to question that were expendable and quickly dealt with severely as an example to the others." Byakuya stated.

Lightly growling, the hanyou grit out "You brainwashed them to do your bidding, not caring what happened to them, or that they would never have a normal life."

"Should you care what happens to a simple tool?" the mage questioned. "If a tool is crafted for your use, would you not use it as you please? And when it is damaged or no longer functions like it should, would you not get rid of it?"

Clutching the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly, the half dog demon growled lowly before replying "You think of them as nothing but tools. İ'm sure that's easy for someone like yourself, but I see that you are the true monster within The Thirteen. Only you could believe misusing those children like you did was right."

Seemingly ignoring the hanyou, the mage calmly said "Once you had defeated the Elrics, I continued to allow things to play out. Tōshirō Hitsugaya slowly became wary of my tactics, along with Anko Mitarashi. I allowed this to continue for some years, till finally I allowed Hitsugaya to take two others with him to square off with yourself and Ichigo Kurosaki."

"The results were somewhat surprising, but not too much so. I had expected Anko and Sakura to both die in battle, but the loss of Tōshirō was a bit shocking, to say the least. He was a founding member of The Thirteen, so I had expected him to do better. Only Gin Ichimaru and myself were truly stronger than that ice demon. Still, the loss of Hitsugaya was not too harmful to the group, for he had been becoming more and more headstrong, along with being less mindful of my orders, which made him troublesome."

"Of the remaining members of The Thirteen, I expected a few to survive and finally defeat yourself and that annoying quarter breed. When I learned that Ichimaru had taken after the human that followed the Western Lord, I knew he would die at the Lord of the West's hands. Jiraiya and Tsunade themselves were easily thought to be dead, for I knew they would not have the strength to defeat you, nor any of the others that were in your half breed brother's pack."

Pausing for a mere moment, the mage somberly said "I did however expect Kenshin, Kurama, and Orochimaru to survive. Kenshin and Kurama's skills alone should have been more than sufficient to subdue anyone, including yourself. As for Orochimaru, his ability to regenerate should have given him the edge in a fight with any of that half breed's pack."

"I hate to disappoint you, Byakuya Kuchiki, but it was not I that subdued either." the hanyou replied. "My younger half brother, Inuyasha Taisho, defeated Kurama, while my partner, Ichigo, took down Kenshin. As for Orochimaru, from what I gather, my elder brother's group took him down."

Not receiving a response immediately from the mage, the hanyou calmly asked "What do you think will happen to yourself, should you kill me, which you won't?"

"I shall continue my conquest of the Four Lands." the mage evenly responded.

Scoffing at the response of the mage, the hanyou firmly replied "Unlikely. Should you kill me, you will have the whole weight of the Western Lands bearing down upon you. There will be no where you can run or hide from my brothers, or my friends."

"It is of no consequence." Byakuya coolly retorted. "Even if the entire Western Lands decided to pursue me, they will fail. If need be, I can call upon the Lords of the South and East for aide."

Noting there seemed to be no deception permeating from the mage's scent, Iya eyed the mage carefully before slowly asking "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that you have both the Eastern and Southern Lands under your command?"

Evenly, the mage replied "Both Lords of the South and East despise the Western Lands and the Lord of teh West. As you might surmise, both have come to blows with the West over the years, which has been the dominant force within the Four Lands. I have met with both Lords, whom have pledged their loyalties to The Thirteen, namely myself, to aide in any action that may destroy the Western Lands. Those fools desire to conquer the West, and to watch both the West and it's ally, the North, fall."

"Once both have fallen, they plan on carving up both the North and West, giving me a piece of the two while they take more of them. Their greed knows no end."

Pausing for a moment, the mage coolly added "They are truly foolish. Once the West and North have fallen, I shall destroy both the Southern and Eastern Lords. Their ambition and greed for more land blinds them. Neither Lord is fit to rule their lands."

"Lord Aikamaru of the South seeks power, thus he wishes to rule over more lands. Instead of improving his own lands, he has spent all of his time strategizing and building up his army. In the meantime, his lands wither from famine, his people despair, and many perish for no reason."

"Then there is Lord Yomi of the East, who is opportunistic. He wishes to control more lands much like the Southern Lord, but is not as hasty. His lands have gone to war with the West during his rule before and for the most part lost. Thus he is biding his time, waiting to see what will happen. Still, he desires to destroy the West and take up some of it's land."

"That is why both the Lords of the East and South have pledged their loyalties to The Thirteen, or more specifically you, isn't it Byakuya Kuchiki?" Iya questioned while gripping the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly. Lowering his eyes below the shadow of his bangs, he muttered "It's no surprise those two would take to your side. Neither really was of sound mind, but they never caused enough trouble either. Still, for you to convince them to betray the West and attempt to destroy it, along with our ally the North, that is despicable. This plan of yours will never work."

"It is inevitable that the Four Lands proceed to go to war." Byakuya calmly remarked. "The greed and hatred of the two Lords has been building for centuries, while the West and the North have prospered. Soon, a war between the Four Lands will break out, with the North and West in the end being broken while the East and South shall become victorious. Once they have, I shall dispose of those two rulers and have conquered all Four Lands."

Remaining quiet for a few moments, the half dog demon raised his eyes up from beneath the shadow of his bangs and asked "Do you honestly believe that you will succeed in fooling them?"

"I already have." the wolf demon commented in a stale voice. "All that is left is to defeat you, then not long after that, the West shall fall."

"Assuming you can take me down." Iya fired back while charging forward.

İn a light grunt while racing forward to meet the hanyou, the mage muttered "Foolish half breed."

The hanyou and wolf demon met in the middle of the battlefield, with their blades clashing loudly together. Sparks flew from the meeting of the blades, with the sound of steel slamming against steel filling the area. The two each attempted to take advantage of the other, only to push apart.

Soon enough, their blades clashed once again, with neither side seemingly gaining the upper hand. Again and again, the pair of fighters struck out at one another, sending sparks flying into the air from steel hitting steel.

After another five minutes of repeating their attacks, the pair began vanishing, only to reappear in different locations throughout the battlefield with their blades clashing against one another. Time after time, the pair's blades clashed, causing sparks to flash throughout the battleground and the sound of steel to echo throughout the domed structure. Small splashes of blood hit the ground from time to time where the one of the pair would receive a small gash from the tip of their opponent's blade. The gashes were minor though, not slowing down either the dog hanyou or the wolf demon.

Thirty minutes passed before the pair at long last seperated with fifteen feet between the two of them. Both were panting, with the half dog demon more heavily than the wolf mage. Sweat coated both their foreheads, with the hanyou's back drenched. Each sported small gashes on their bodies in multiple places where the tips of their swords had struck one another.

Allowing the end of his sword to rest on the ground while he attempted to catch his breath, the hanyou stared at the wolf mage with an intense look in his muddy brown eyes. "_He's so fast. I don't know if I can keep up with him much longer. If I had to guess, this battle is beginning to wear on him also. Still, I used too much energy early on in this fight. If we keep this up, I'll probably only last for another hour, at best._"

"I must admit, Iya Taisho, that for you to continue fighting me at that level of skill and to live for this long, it is commendable." Byakuya spoke up, startling the half demon from his thoughts. "I had assumed that I would defeat you early in our fight, but you have once more proven me wrong."

Pausing for a moment, the mage added "But the end is coming. You are tiring, thus this fight will end before much longer."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're tiring as well." Iya pointedly replied.

Unaffected by the hanyou's words, the wolf demon calmly said "That is true, but you are at your limit. I on the other hand, could continue this fight for much longer and until you completely tire. The longer this fight drags on, the more careless you'll become."

Closing his eyes and slowly reopening, the mage continued on, saying "You are the first to push me towards my own limit. And for that, I am willing to end this fight in a way that is acceptable to both of us. We'll finish this off with one final attack."

"One last attack, eh?" the hanyou questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why should I believe you?"

"I have fought you in a fair manner, and thus far have found you to be a perfect match to my own skills. Though you have less stamina than myself, I have found our fight intriguing. That is why I wish to end it fairly, and with honor." the mage explained.

Shifting his sword before his body, he added "I will end this battle with this one attack, whether you agree or not."

"Not giving me much choice, are you?" Iya grunted while picking the tip of Ketsaiga back up off of the ground and moving the sword before his body and gripping the hilt of it tightly with both hands. "Very well then, Byakuya Kuchiki, I agree, we will end this in one move."

Gripping his sword with both hands while holding it before his body, the mage stared down at his sword, seemingly concentrating on it. Without warning, the pink swords on the wall began glowing brighter than before and turned into pink energy. The energy went racing to the sword within the mage's hands, causing it to begin to glow with a brilliant white light.

Suddenly, a tower of white energy engulfed the mage, hiding him completely from the hanyou's sight. Slowly, the tower split in two, into what looked like massive white wings of energy that connected to the back of the mage with a circle behind the two wings, seemingly connecting the two together. Before the mage, his sword glowed with a brilliant white light. The mage's demonic aura poured out of his body, causing his hair to dance seemingly in the wind.

Staring at the mage, the hanyou took an involuntary step backwards. Realizing what he was doing, the hanyou firmly planted his feet and began calling up his own demonic aura, along with the aura of Ketsaiga. The two's auras began spilling out, surrounding the pair in a light blue glow and rustling his clothing and the ponytail on his back.

"Shūkei Hakuteiken." Byakuya calmly declared. "This is the final form of Senbonzakura. It uses both my own power and the full power of Senbonzakura to compress the numerous sword fragments back into one blade. The overwhelming power causes my own demonic aura to spill out, along with Senbonzakura's, causing the appearance of my wings. I have never revealed it to anyone before you. During my fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, I nearly called upon this attack, but he was felled by this blade instead."

In a cold voice, the mage added "You shall be the first to die by this attack."

Staring at the mage, Iya quietly said "I will not die here, not today. I will admit, that attack looks incredible. Still, I will not fall here. Too many people are awaiting my return."

"They will be most disappointed then, Iya Taisho." the mage remarked in a clipped tone. "Here I come, half breed."

Watching the mage rushing towards him with his sword still before his body, the hanyou raced forward himself with his sword in a similar position. The mage let out a light grunt while the hanyou released a small battle roar. Reaching one another, the two's blades clashed, causing a massive explosion of the two fighters' demonic auras that blinded the entire area and rocked the battleground.

Slowly, the dust of the battle settled, with the black dome that had hid the pair gone. The mage and hanyou stood ten feet away from one another, each standing still and with their backs to one another.

A moment passed and suddenly the hanyou released a pain filled scream as blood sprayed from a large and deep wound on his left shoulder. Hearing his blood splatter to the ground, the hanyou drove his sword into the ground before himself in an attempt to use the blade as a crutch to hold his weight up, only to lose his grip on the hilt and fall to the ground with a sickening thud.

Ten feet away, the mage with his demonic aura flaring, white energy wings, and glowing white sword, growled out in pain as blood sprayed from a wound on his own left shoulder. He took a few unsteady steps forward till finally he regained his balance. Panting heavily, he turned around to face the fallen form of the hanyou.

Trying to catch his breath, the mage coolly ground out "You have lost, half breed."

Weakly coughing up a small pool of blood, the hanyou whimpered out in pain as he attmepted to move his body. Blood leaked down his left shoulder as he slowly moved his body. Bitting his lower lip while moving once more, the hanyou tried to move to his hands and knees, only to fall to the ground once more face first, causing more blood to pour out from his shoulder wound.

"_I can barely move... Is this the end? Do I die here, at the hands of this mage?_"

Feeling his mind starting to slip into darkness, memories of his past slowly rolled through. The first clear one was of his father teaching him to fight, along with his elder brother. Their father had worked the hanyou hard, saying that even though he wasn't a full demon, he would learn to fight with feriocity of one.

More memories flowed out of his mind, with some swirling around his former human friend before he had harmed her. To him, they were the memories in his mind that made him happiest when he was younger, back before he had harmed her and tainted not only herself, but his own self.

The memory of his father teaching him years later of how to control his demonic blood slowly rose up within him, showing him nearly fully transformed into his full demon state. Another memory fired off, revealing his brother and his former intended, with him remembering how he had wished to be happy like his elder brother. That memory came to an end quickly though, showing him the scene of his elder brother holding his dead intended within his arms, then coldly leaving Iya to bury the young woman himself.

Glimpses of his father's new mate, Izayoi, rolled through his mind, then the last time he had seen his father alive. His memories then showed him his encounter with his father's mate, and how she wished for him to continue on with his duty that his father had entrusted to him rather than help protect her and his younger half brother, Inuyasha.

His memories soon became a blur till he met Ichigo, with him fighting with the young quarter demon, only to come to a draw. A few memories of the pair's travels flickered through his mind, and eventually his memories focused on his mate.

Seeing her face, he mentally mumbled "_Lilly..._"

Focusing on her face long and hard, the hanyou's eyes slowly grew less heavy. Clenching his hands into tight fists, he mentally screamed "_No! İ swore to her that I would return! No matter what, I will not break my promise! If I die here, she dies with me, and I cannot afford to let that happen!_"

Finding new strength, the hanyou shakily moved his hands and legs so they were beginning to push himself back up, earning him a gasp from the mage. Trembling while continuing to move and sitting on his hands and knees, he pushed the pain he felt from his wound to the back of his mind and forced himself up onto one knee and into a kneeling stance.

Remembering all the promises he had made his mate, the hanyou forced himself back onto his feet with a groan and took a wobbly step forward. Reaching out, he grasped hold of the hilt of his sword. With a loud and pained grunt, he transformed the sword into it's true form once more before pulling it from the ground.

"Tell me, why do you persist? What possible reason do you have to rise up once again?" Byakuya questioned in a smooth voice.

Turning his muddy colored eyes towards the mage, Iya weakly said "I made a promise to my mate, that no matter what, I would return to her. I haven't the time to die here. I will finish my mission and destroy you, the last of The Thirteen, with this very blade. No matter what, I will not allow myself to die until you are dead!"

"A bold threat, but an empty one." the mage remarked. "You are at your limit. There is nothing left for you to do, but die."

Clutching the hilt of Ketsaiga tightly, Iya slowly closed his eyes. İn his mind, he called out to the sword, saying "_Ketsaiga, please, lend me the strength I need to defeat him. We cannot allow him to leave here, for he will only move on to threaten and possibly destroy the peace of which my family has tried to keep for years. So please, lend me your power! İ swear to you, we will defeat him together!_"

Glowing with a light blue aura, the blade in the hanyou's hands began releasing it's demonic aura while it slowly changed into it's icy blade form. Feeling the strength of his sword, the hanyou dug deep into himself, searching for any power he had left. Finding some, he allowed his demonic aura to begin spilling out, causing the ground to slightly tremble beneath his feet while causing wind to whip around his body. The ribbon that held his hair back in a ponytail came loose and blew away from his body, allowing his hair to begin floating in the air due to the wind surrounding him.

"_If this doesn't work, then I am truly sorry Lilly for failing you. İ only pray that this attack ends this battle._"

Hardening his muddy brown eyes on the mage before himself, who still stood ten feet away with his own demonic aura pouring out, the hanyou tightened his grip on Ketsaiga. Drawing back the halberd, the hanyou released a might roar while swinging the blade diagonally to the right before his body.

İmmediate, a cyclone of ice and snow went racing forward, along with a white demonic blast of energy encircling the cyclone. Watching this, the mage stood his ground, seemingly on guard and ready to block any attack coming at himself.

Feeling a fierce coldness on his skin, the mage frowned and looked at his left sleeve that had wet blood on it still. Examining it closer, he saw that it was suddenly growing colder, like it was freezing.

"What is this?" the mage questioned while noting his entire body was feeling colder.

Not answering, the hanyou quickly swung his sword to the left diagonally, sending out a series of ice like daggers. İn a final motion, he swung the sword downwards with all his strength and struck the ground. Upon doing so, he released a mighty yell, saying "ICE HURRICANE!"

Racing forward and rising up out of the ground, pinnacles of ice rose up from the ground at an alarming fast rate of speed. Each pinnacle grew in size with a sharp point on the end and razor sharp edges coming down it's side.

Watching the incoming ice, the mage leapt into the air and struck his sword out at the icy cyclone. Pulling back the blade, he could hardly surpress a gasp when he saw it was coated three inches of solid ice, causing the blade to be weighed down. He had little time to react to this just as the icy daggers came flying through the air and struck him, with each scoring a hit on his body. None of the hits were able to strike any vital organs, but they were enough to force the mage to the ground while releasing a hiss of pain.

Eyes widening as he saw the incoming rising pinnacles, the mage pushed all of his power into the blade of his white sword, causing his energy wings to vanish. With all of his power, he swung the sword and struck the rising pinnacles. The force of the attack destroyed the upcoming pinnacle, only to be followed by another that slashed the side of the mage, making him scream out in pain.

Before he could recover, the vortex of ice and snow began shrinking around the mage, instantly lowering the temperature. Seeing this, the mage only had time to whisper "A half breed..."

With his words uttered, the mage's body was frozen solid in a thick coat of ice that was six inches thick. Slowly, the vortex dispersed, leaving only the frozen mage and the heavily panting hanyou alone on the battlefield.

The ice surrounding the mage suddenly began crackling, and without warning, the ice covered mage broke apart into numerous pieces. The sword he had been holding fell to the ground, with the ice around it shattering. A small gust of wind kicked up while the sword suddenly turned into pink flower petals and flew off in the wind's current.

Panting heavily still, the halberd in the hanyou's hands reversed it's icy transformation into it's normal halberd blade form before reversing completely into it's smaller form. The sword fell to the ground with a clanging sound while the hanyou weakly remained standing and staring at the remains of the wolf demon.

İn a mere whisper, the hanyou said "It's... over..."

Coughing, he suddenly fell forward and landed face first on the ground, causing blood to splash out from his shoulder wound once more. Barely conscious, the hanyou whispered "I'm... truly... sorry... Lilly... I... tried... to keep... my... prom..."


	66. Chapter 65: Requests

**Hey there everyone! Well, let's see, what has been happening. Last weekend, my mate and I went to see my mom, my sister, and her fiance in Richmond, VA (my mom lives there and the others came too), for my mom's birthday. We had a great time for the most part, excluding a little incident Sunday between my mom and sister. (/Sighs\) Hearing the pair of them argue took back to a time that I never cared to remember, but unfortunately it came to mind listening to the pair. (/Shakes head\) Anyways, after things cooled off, all was good and we came home. I'm currently posting this to everyone from the motel room where my company put me. I'm on a business trip to Dayton, OH, hence why. At any rate, my coworker and I hit some pretty rough storms coming up yesterday. Lol, yesterday I was so angry with myself. We had just left the office and was about an hour and a half out when I stopped to get something to drink. I went to pay for my drink when I noticed while digging into my pants pocket that my pocket knife was missing. Then I noted my lose money was gone, along with a keychain and coin that I carry. Confused, I checked my back pocket, only to find no wallet. Nothing in my left either, other than my cell phone and flash drive. I ended up putting the drink back and went outside horribly pissed. I had somehow or another forgotten to place all the stuff I normally carry into my pockets yesterday morning. I know how, because I was running late for work and paid no heed. I even forgot to take my allergy medicine. So, I told my coworker and checked the time. It was only 1:48, so I remembered my mate got off at 2 from work. I attempted to call her at work, only to have difficulty remembering the number. Once I figured it out, I told her the situation and she told me she'd meet me about halfway with my possessions. So, our four hour trip to Dayton was extended to seven in the end. Plus we hit some rough windy conditions, and some bad rain. We even saw an overturned eighteen wheeler on it's side in the middle of the East bound lane. Needless to say, it was not pleasant weather. Regardless, we made it and today we do an eight hour training session. Should be fun.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along nicely. I'm thinking 2-3 chapters still, lol. I didn't get to where I thought I would in this chapter, oddly enough, but it's cool. I can still finish in the near future. I'm still on for my target date of the end of the month, so all is good.**

**Ah yes, while I'm thinking about it, I would like to give a shout out to mcsnellies, a very friendly reader and author. If you're into reading tragic stories, or mysteries, I suggest you read either **_**The Pain Within**_** or **_**Stiletto**_**. Both were rather good. He is also working on an interesting sounding Fullmetal Alchemist – Inuyasha crossover. I look forward to it. At any rate, here is the link. If it don't work, check the secondary one.**

**.net/u/1684828/**

**www. fanfiction .net /u/ 1684828**

**Again, I'd suggest looking into his stories if you like a good mystery or tragedy.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**The Grieving General: It's cool about not reviewing on the last chapter. Sometimes things happens, like storms, lol. I don't blame anyone for not reviewing. Life comes at you, and when there are things that can't be done, it happens. Glad you got power back at your home. Lol, I'm glad you liked the chapter. Yes, I did add Shiro, though I didn't name him due that I couldn't find out for sure what his true name is. Apparently, he has none, like he stated (nice of him to point it out), though I may use the name Shiro or come up with something. I've heard him called the reverse of Ichigo's name (Ogihci), but that's just odd, to say the least. But yes, Byakuya was far more sadistic in my story than Bleach, with him nearly losing to Ichigo in this fight. If not for Ichigo regaining control of himself, Byakuya would have died a painful death most likely. Heh, yes, I didn't use Ryuuken Getsuga Tensho, but oh well. Yes, Ichigo's mask in the anime makes him far more superior to anyone, though time is an issue for him. At any rate, there will be an explination of what happened, so stay patient. Heh, we'll see about a sequel. It's still in the air. I'll know by the end of the month what I want to do. I wouldn't worry about a story line for a sequel though. I could easily come up with something, probably. Interesting idea on what you were thinking. No problem about adding Shiro, I'm glad you liked it. Lol, no, I was not talking about Super Twister Tuesday for the 2nd, hehe. But yes, it was mine and my mate's anniversary. Thanks once more for the congrats, and thank you for your review!**

**Lily887787: Yep, still a few more chapters to go. Thanks for the review!**

**Kattana: I'm glad you thought that battle was the best of all of them. Honestly, I think it was too, if not with Kenshin's battle coming in at a semi-close second to it. Thanks about the fight. Heh, the attack was interesting to say the least. I originally wanted to do something else, like have all three brothers combining attacks into the Backlash Wave, but I came up with Ice Hurricane (meant to call it Artic Hurricane, but oh well). It was kind of a combo of all of Iya's attacks rolled into one, like with the freezing power of Cold Wave, except in a twister like form, the Wind Slash racing on the outside, Frost Shards in the air, and then the last part was kind of a new form of Ice Barrier. At any rate, I'm happy you liked it. True, I don't think Sesshomaru could pull off an attack quite like that. But you may have noted something about Iya at the end. It took a lot out of him to use it, which could be a major drawback. (/Blushes\) You're too kind with your words. At any rate, thank you for your review!**

**Well, that'd be it for the reviews. I'd like to thank all three of you for your lovely reviews. I truly appreciated all three of them. And to any who wish to review, but are a bit shy about it or are afraid your comments or opinions are not worth while or too harsh, I say let me hear them. I'm always happy to hear feedback, be it good or bad.**

**Anyways, I need to run guys. Me and a few friends from work are headed out this evening. Take care all, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 65**

Grunting while shifting the quarter bobcat's weight on her shoulders, the neko hanyou took one last glance backwards at the black dome with pink swords dancing around itself. Her initial response was to come to a stop and set the quarter bobcat down and go back to aide her mate, but she knew better.

"_No, Iya wouldn't want me there. After all, I'm a bit worn out as is, so I'd be little help to him in that battle. Besides, he'd never allow me to interfere. He wants to finish this alone, I know it._"

Refocusing her attention on the task at hand, she began reaching out with her senses to find the female dog demon she sought after. She attempted to sniff the air, only to nearly gag from the scent of blood that filled it. Forcing herself to keep her stomach contents down, she began reaching out with her other senses and quickly found a weakened demonic aura not too far from where she was. The aura seemed familiar to her, so she decided to go to it, not knowing if it was the female dog demon or not.

Hearing a bit of a groan on her shoulder, the neko heard the bobcat whisper "Iya..."

"Don't worry, Ichigo, he can take care of himself." Lilly quietly responded. "For now, hang in there. We'll find Tsunade soon enough, and she'll patch you up. Just hold on, alright?"

İn a mere whisper, she heard Ichigo mutter "Yeah, I will..."

"Good." the neko remarked.

Pressing onwards towards the demonic aura she was following, the half neko demon attempted to sniff the air once more. This time, she found the scent of blood had somewhat diminished, though she could still smell her own blood, along with the quarter bobcat's. She also detected the scent of the female dog demon and her blood, along with the blood of the male dog demon that had been traveling with her. The scent of death also filled the air and seemed to be mixed in with the scent of the male dog demon.

"_Iya did tell me he left her with the body of Jiraiya... I should have realized that much on my own._" she mentally scolded.

Finally coming into view of the blonde haired dog demon, the neko saw that she was sitting back on her knees underneath of a large shady tree and staring down at the body of her former friend. Approaching slowly, the hanyou gently laid the quarter demon onto the ground.

"Ichigo, just hang in there till I get her over here, okay?"

Seeing the quarter demon's eyes were barely open, but shifted towards her, she heard him quietly respond "Yeah... I'll... I'll be waiting."

Glancing at the quarter demon longingly for a moment, the neko turned away and walked over to where the female dog demon sat. Crouching down so she could see and speak to the female mage, the neko couldn't help but sense the sadness emanating off of the dog demoness in what felt like waves. The mage's eyes were seemingly dull and void of life, leaving behind a color barely resembling amber. Her eyes were also puffy and red from all the tears she had shed, but seemed to have cried herself out.

İn the most gentle tone she could find, Lilly softly asked "Lady Tsunade?"

Getting a small response of the mage barely lifting her head and looking at the neko, the neko quietly said "Lady Tsunade, I would like to ask you for your help. Ichigo is badly injured, and if he doesn't receive treatment soon, he'll die. Please, will you heal him some until Orihime arrives?"

"It won't matter..." Tsunade's voice creaked out. "What's the point of going on?"

Confused at the mage's tone, the neko gently replied "Please Lady Tsunade, you're the only one here that can heal him until Orihime gets back. I can bandage his wounds and try to treat them, but I have no healing powers. He'll die if he doesn't receive treatment. Please, will you help him?"

Allowing her head to bow back down so that she was looking at the fallen male mage before herself, the dog demoness whispered "It won't matter. He's gone... The one thing that kept me together is gone..."

"Lady Tsunade, please!" Lilly protested with a raised voice. Realizing she had let her emotions get the better of her, the neko quietly added "I'm sorry, but there isn't time. Your friend is dead, and because of that, I'm sorry, but it's not too late for Ichigo. Please, save his life."

Kneeling down and bowing deeply, the neko softly said "Please, I'm begging you, save him. I don't want to lose him."

Hearing no reply, the neko sat back up to see that the female dog demon was staring at her with weak eyes, but looked away and back at the corpse of her friend instead. "It's pointless..."

Angered, the neko got up and slapped the demoness hard on the right cheek, leaving a firm hand print. İn a seething tone, the neko growled out "Jiraiya is dead, Tsunade! Sometimes we lose the people we care about, but sitting around and sulking about it won't bring them back!"

"Besides that, Jiraiya would never want you to sit around here sulking and feeling sorry for yourself while others that needed your help were dying! He would have slapped you himself if he was here. So pick yourself up and keep moving forward!"

Reaching up and caressing her skin where the hand print was, the female dog demon sat quiet for a moment before saying "Keep moving forward... Jiraiya once told me that when I lost my mate so long ago."

Hardening her eyes, the demoness stood and defiantly looked at the neko hanyou. The neko was ready for any retaliation, but instead the demoness reached forward and hugged the her. A bit shocked and surprised, the neko relaxed and returend the hug. Pulling back at last, the female dog demon squeezed out a few tears and mumbled "Thank you."

Without another word, she walked over to where the quarter bobcat laid and sat down next to him on her knees. Her hands began to glow green as she gently placed her palms on his chest and near his wound.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, can you hear me?" Tsunade asked in a soft tone.

Cracking his eyes open barely, Ichigo whispered "Yeah... Odd, after all these years of chasing you guys, here you are helping us."

Allowing a small smile to appear on her face, the demoness nodded, saying "Yes, it is. İ'm going to see if I can heal you, alright?"

"Yeah, feel free." the quarter bobcat commented. "Not like I can move or anything. Just talking hurts like hell."

Frowning, the female dog demon quietly said "Then stop talking."

Receiving a small grunt of confirmation, the female mage began examining the deep wound along the quarter demon's side. Using her healing powers, she probed the wound, finding that it went down to his spine and had actually cut slightly into the bone. Bitting her lower lip, the mage continued to probe the injury for more damage, only to find a few of the quarter demon's organs had been damaged as well.

"How is he?" the neko questioned, startling the female dog mage a bit.

Calming herself, the demoness quietly replied "He's pretty bad off. He has some internal bleeding, plus the wound on his side goes all the way down to his spine. It also damaged some of his internal organs."

"So I'm dying?" the quarter bobcat spoke up.

Slightly shaking her head, the mage replied "No, you'll recover, but the healing process will be slow. But there is a slight problem."

"What is it?" Lilly asked with a frown.

Letting out a small sigh, Tsunade softly said "I don't think I have enough energy to heal him completely. İ used up a lot of power in my fight with Byakuya Kuchiki. I might be able to repair some of the damage, but not all of it."

Silence enveloped the small group of three for a moment before the neko spoke up, asking "Is it possible for you to stop his internal bleeding? That would give him a fighting chance, wouldn't it?"

"I can try, but again, I'm not sure I have enough power. Like I said, I used a great deal of my power in that fight, but every little bit that I have left, I'll use to heal him." the demoness vowed.

Receiving a nod from the hanyou, the female dog demon's hands began to glow a bit brighter as green energy began pouring out into the quarter bobcat. Noting he was grimacing lightly, she softly said "Try to relax. It'll make healing you a little easier."

"Yeah, I'll try..." the quarter demon murmured while taking a bit of a deep breath and attempting to relax his body.

Seeing the dog demoness was setting to work on her comrade, the neko hanyou glanced towards the direction of the battlefield. Releasing a small sigh, she leapt into the shade tree and found a branch that wasn't too far up to sit down on. Leaning back against it, she tuned all of her senses into the battle that seemed quite fierce.

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Nearly an hour passed, with the neko standing guard while the dog demoness continued to heal the quarter bobcat. The demoness was already panting with her skin slick from the sweat forming on her skin. Her gray top was already soaked in sweat while the liquid continued to pour down her face and forehead. Her amber eyes were gazing intensely at the wound where she was applying her hands to.

Glancing from time to time back at the back of the dog demoness from her perch in the large shady tree, the neko hanyou continued to strain her senses towards the battlefield where her mate still fought. She could sense her mate's aura growing fainter throughout the battle, with it seemingly cut in half all at once at one point. Upon feeling the sudden drop in his aura, she had fought the urge to run to him and help him in the fight. The only thing stopping her were the words that rung through her head that her mate had told her before she had left him to fight.

"_I promise, no matter what, I will come back to you, Lilly._"

Those words rung again throughout her mind, making the hanyou sigh slightly. Though she had the words of her mate stuck in her mind, she could not help but feel she should be there to help him in some way. She could not shake the sense that her mate was in a desperate struggle for not only his life, but the lives of many others. Still, she knew that she could not interfere in the fight, for she knew that even with her own strength and the current strength of the mage, she could never subdue such a tenacious opponent. Instead, she idly sat in the tree, hoping that her mate would be victorious.

At one time, not long after the sudden drop in her mate's aura, she had felt the wolf mage's strength falter as well, causing her heart to soar with pride that her mate was valiantly fighting the mage, and seemingly having some effect. Still, she could tell that her mate was weakening at a faster rate than his opponent, which led her to believe that if her mate wanted to win, he'd have to catch the wolf demon off guard, somehow.

Flicking a glance quickly at the female mage, she could sense the energy within the dog demon leaving her body and saw that fatigue was beginning to set in and that the dog demon as panting heavily. Frowning at the behavior of the female mage, the neko leapt from her perch to the ground and gracefully landed on the balls of her feet. Wordlessly, she walked softly over to the side of the dog demoness and kneedled down.

Playing a gentle hand on the mage's shoulder, the hanyou quietly said "Lady Tsunade, maybe you should stop for now. I think Ichigo is well enough off that he can survive till Orihime gets here."

"I can… heal him… a bit more." Tsunade panted out.

Reaching forward and grasping the hand of the mage, the neko softly said "You've done enough for him. If not for you, he wouldn't stand a chance till Orihime arrives. So please, let it go. You need to rest up."

About to reply, the dog demoness bit her lower lip and released a strangled sigh from her lips. A moment passed before her hands stopped glowing green and retracted them back to only allow them to come to rest on her knees. Sitting still and managing to rest for a moment, she began panting heavily while closing her eyes.

In a raspy, winded voice, the mage grit out "That took… more… out of me… than I thought… it did."

"I thought it might have." the hanyou remarked with a small sigh. "Just take it easy, okay?"

Receiving a lazy nod, the neko suddenly felt the release of a massive demonic aura off in the distance where her mate battled. She immediately recognized it as the wolf demon's aura, which was slowly starting to eclipse her mate's aura. The neko instantly realized the sudden release was a warning that the mage was about to unleash a finishing attack. A moment passed before she felt her mate's aura slowly rising up and attempting to match the wolf demon's, but never reached quite the height of the mage's.

"Iya..." the neko whispered while taking a small step toward the battlefield.

Realizing what she was doing, she stopped and bit her lower lip, allowing her fangs to nip the sensitive skin and draw blood. Staring off towards the battlefield, she saw in the sky that the clouds were swirling around the area of the fight.

"His power is incredible..." Tsunade quietly commented in a winded tone. Gripping her knees, she gruffly muttered "Jiraiya and I were fools to think we could have ever competed with his strength. Just the sheer power of his demonic aura from here frightens me."

Remaining still, the neko's mind was in turmoil over the situation that was unfolding. "_If I go to him, I may endanger his life even further. That mage is so strong, and I know without a doubt, I wouldn't be able to stop him. But if I don't go, Iya could die. Oh Kami, what should I do!?_"

Feeling a familiar prescene speak up in her mind, she heard it ask "_Lilly, do you have faith in your mate?_"

"_Of course Kimi!_" she dangerously hissed in reply. "_I believe in Iya with all of my heart and soul. He swore to me that he would return to me, and I truly believe what he said._"

Knowing the spirit was rolling it's eyes over the name she had called him, she heard the spirit reply "_Then trust in him. If Iya says he can defeat this enemy, believe in him._"

"_But..._"

"_No buts!_" the spirit firmly admonished. "_If you truly believe in him, then do not question his abilities. He gave you his word, and he has always kept his word to you._"

Releasing a small sigh, the neko gripped the hilt of her sword tightly while staring off in the direction of the battle. She suddenly felt the demonic aura of her mate drop to the point that it had seemingly vanished. Fear immediately spread throughout her body upon realizing she couldn't sense her mate any longer. She could feel tears welling up within her eyes, threatening to fall the moment she knew for sure that her mate had died.

Unable to stand where she was any longer, and desperate to find out the results of the battle, the neko bolted towards the battleground, not even paying heed to the protesting screams of the dog demoness. With quickness she didn't know she possessed, the neko pushed her body to move faster than she had ever gone before. Pain flared from her wounds, but she ignored it, with only one thing weighing on her mind.

"_Iya, please, just hold on! You promised me you'd return, so please don't break that promise, not now!_"

About halfway to the battlefield, she suddenly sensed the aura of her mate flaring to life once again, with it suddenly growing, signaling to her that he was alive. Her relief was quickly put aside when she felt his aura grow even stronger than before, causing the wolf demon's aura to waver slightly. She was once more surprised when suddenly the wolf demon's aura began fading slowly, and without warning, suddenly vanished completely. Before she could even rejoice, she felt her mate's aura fade away as well, leaving nothing behind for her to track any longer.

Still racing towards the battleground, she mentally screamed "_What does it mean!?_"

Speeding up to a speed that the neko didn't think she could, the half neko demon soon reached the destroyed battlefield. Coming to a stop just outside of where the ground was torn asunder, she panted heavily while letting her eyes scan the battlefield. Seeing some pink flower floating in the air and being carried away by the wind, she noted there were several chunks of ice strung across the battleground, but no clear signs of the wolf demon or her mate.

Sniffing the air, the scent of her mate's blood, along with the wolf demon and quarter demon's, filled her senses. Attempting to distinguish between the three, she focused on her mate's and found that the scent of it was stronger on the opposite end of the battlefield.

Quickly following the scent, the neko's emerald eyes widened when she saw the figure of her mate laying on his stomach on the ground. Blood was pooling underneath of his form while the gentle breeze played with his hair that was now free from it's normal ribbon.

Without a second thought, the neko raced to the form of her mate, not even noting his sword was laying near his body. Reaching her mate, she fell to her knees beside of his still form and began gently shaking him and softly asked "Iya, Iya, can you hear me?"

Receiving no response, she carefully rolled him onto his back, only to grimace at the sight of some of his wounds. Scanning his form, she noted the worst of his wounds was on his left shoulder, where a deep slash had cut into it and leaving blood pouring out of it. The remainder of his body had small gashes on it, with some worse than others, but most about the same.

Almost afraid to, the neko nervously began checking the fallen dog hanyou's vitals. Feeling a small pulse running through his neck, the neko released a shaky sigh of relief. Continuing to check his vitals, she found his breathing very shallow and raspy. Frowning, she discovered that the dog hanyou's demonic aura was barely present, causing realization in her mind.

"_I guess he used up all of his power to defeat Byakuya Kuchiki. That's why I couldn't sense him any longer before I got here._"

Breaking free from her thoughts, the neko noted that the bleeding from his shoulder wound seemed to not be slowing and blood was still oozing out. Quickly, she reached up and ripped a strip of fabric off of her mate's tattered kimono top and began forming strips. Carefully, she stuffed them into the wound, attempting to stop the bleeding.

After five minutes of trying to tend to her mate's wounds, the neko quickly realized that the bleeding wasn't stopping still. Fear began to creep into her mind over the possible implications that would happen should the wound not close up.

Shaking her head, she grumbled in her mind "_Don't think of such a thing. Iya will live, I know it. İ just have to get him back to Tsunade. She should have an idea of what to do. Besides, Orihime will be arriving soon, she'll be able to help him out._"

Standing, she drew the empty sheath out of her mate's obi and placed it within her own. Finding the sword that belonged to the sheath nearby, she slid it back into it's home and turned back to the task at hand. Carefully, she lifted the dog hanyou up to his feet and gently shouldered him and slowly slid him onto her back. Feeling the full weight of her mate, the neko couldn't help but muse at the situation and muttered "You're a bit heavy, Iya."

Receiving no answer, the neko confirmed that the dog hanyou was on and began racing back towards the others. Before she could get very far, a white clad figure appeared before her, bringing the neko to a screeching stop. She immediately recognized her mate's elder half brother, who was walking towards the pair in a slow pace.

Remembering how Iya had told her to show respect to the Lord of the West, she did her best to bow to him, only finding she was about to lose her precious cargo on her back. The dog demon saw this and curtly nodded, stopping her from bowing any deeper.

"Neko, how is this Sesshomaru's brother?"

Choosing her words, Lilly calmly replied "He is still alive, but barely. During his battle with Byakuya Kuchiki, he used up all of his power it seems. There is a bad wound on his left shoulder that I couldn't get to stop bleeding. I'm going to take him to Lady Tsunade and have her look at it. Has Orihime returned with you?"

"The bobcat mage is with the others and that former member of The Thirteen. She was looking after the quarter bobcat." Sesshomaru answered.

About to reply, the neko was stopped when she heard the dog demon ask "Did this Sesshomaru's brother defeat that mage?"

"I believe so..." Lilly ventured. "I was running to them when the battle ended abruptly. I looked around the battlefield once I got there, but saw no sign of Byakuya Kuchiki, other than a few pink flowers floating in mid-air. The only body I saw was Iya's."

Nodding, the regal dog demon began walking in the opposite direction of the neko, towards the former battlefield. Just a few feet past her, he stopped abruptly and said "Take Iya to the bobcat mage."

"Right." the neko agreed.

Shifting her mate on her back, the neko quickly began racing towards the place where she had left the dog demoness. Still a ways off from the location, the neko immediately picked up the scents of her friends and comrades, but frowned when she found some of them appeared to be in their human form. She could also sense the demonic auras of some of the group was weak, but nothing too concerning.

At long last, the neko reached the large shade tree and saw that all of the humans turned half demon, excluding herself, were now humans once more. She also noticed that the bobcat mage was hovering over the fallen quarter bobcat and pouring out her healing powers upon him.

Almost all of the group turned towards the newly arrived hanyou, with part of them gasping at the load she held on her back. Kagome and Sango were first to reach her and help take her mate from her back. Gently as possible, the pair laid the dog hanyou onto the ground and attempted to make a decent resting place for him.

"Orihime, we need you over here!" Kagome called out with worry in her voice while she lowered herself onto her knees to examine the hurt dog hanyou more closely. Looking his wounds over, she spoke up loudly again, saying "Iya's in bad shape, we definitely need you as soon as you can get over here."

Releasing a light grunt, the bobcat mage released her healing spell, but took a shaky step backwards upon doing so. She was lightly panting, but soon calmed it. Bending down, she caressed the cheek of the quarter bobcat demon and whispered "Rest up, Ichigo. I'll be back to heal you as soon as I can."

Standing once more, the bobcat mage walked over to the dog hanyou. Her brow furrowed instantly when she saw the wounds of the dog hanyou. Lowering herself to her knees, she examined the wound more closely.

"Can you two get him out of his kimono top?" Orihime asked both humans that were near him.

Both nodded in response and carefully began untying the dog demon's obi. Gently as possible, the pair slowly pulled the ragged black kimono top off of the dog hanyou. Once done, they began working his inner white top off, finally revealing his bare chest which was littered with numerous wounds.

Standing up and holding her hands out before herself, the bobcat mage closed her eyes and softly said "I'm not going to be able to fully heal him due that I already used a lot of power today in both the fight and healing Ichigo, but I swear to you Lilly, I will do everything possible for Iya. I swear to you, no matter what, I won't allow him to die."

Slowly reopening her gray orbs, Orihime boldly said "Sōten Kisshun, I reject, I reject!"

Immediately, a golden energy dome formed around the dog hanyou, encasing him within golden energy. Healing energy slowly began washing over the body of the unconscious half demon and bit by bit began working on his wounds. The smaller gashes and scratches gradually knitted cleanly back together, not leaving so much as a mark behind. Slowly, the larger wound began to stop bleeding, but was slow to begin closing.

Continuing to pour out more power, the bobcat mage bit her lower lip, drawing a small bit of blood from the nip. Her forehead was slick with sweat while she began to pant more and more heavily.

Watching this, the neko stepped forward and placed a gentle hand onto the mage's shoulder, saying "Orihime, don't push yourself."

"I need to heal that wound…" the bobcat mage responded in a winded tone. "If I don't, he may not make it…"

Noting the bobcat mage's legs were trembling, Lilly quietly said "Orihime, it's alright. You've done more than enough for now. Rest for a while."

Before the bobcat mage could answer, she felt her power begin to waver and sputter. The healing energy slowly began fading till finally it quit falling onto the half dog demon. His deep shoulder wound was nearly closed and had stopped bleeding, but was not quite completely healed over.

Panting more heavily, the bobcat mage fell onto her hands and knees while sweat dripped off of her forehead and onto the ground. İn a breathless voice, she muttered "I'm sorry I can't do more, but that's it. That's all the energy I have."

"Orihime, it's alright." the neko hanyou remarked while moving down and placing a gentle hand onto the panting bobcat. "I'm just thankful for what you could do for Iya. Thank you for helping heal him somewhat."

Nodding weakly, the bobcat mage attempted to rise up, only to find she was only able to sit back onto her knees. İn a light pant still, she grunted out "We need to get these two somewhere that they can rest. İf we don't, they may never recover."

"Couldn't we just stay here for a few days till they recover?" Rin spoke up for the first time.

Shaking her head, the bobcat mage began to speak, only to be cut off by the female dog demon, who said "No, this won't do. Their wounds are nearly closed up, but they need a sheltered place to rest in. It will take at least a week for both of them to fully recover, or even wake up. Their battles depleted of energy, and without it, they'll barely recover."

"Tsunade is right." Orihime chimed in. "We need to take them somewhere where they can just get bed rest. İ'm thinking any village nearby wouldn't be good since most are fearful of demons, or even half or quarter demons."

Quieting for a moment, the group pondered on a location till finally the black haired dog mage spoke up, saying "I think the Western Stronghold would be the best place for both to recover."

"That's an excellent idea Ryo." Miroku commented.

"There is a problem with that though." the silver haired hanyou grunted out. "We're about five days away from there. Those two need rest, not a five day journey."

Nodding, the bobcat mage quietly said "Yeah, five days of traveling would be a definite setback for those two. We can't do that. We need them there within a day or two."

Remaining silent for a moment, the neko hanyou finally asked "What if I flew Iya and Ichigo there in my true neko form? İt would take less time for me to fly there than to walk."

"Yes, that would probably work, but there is a problem with that, Lilly." Kagome remarked thoughtfully. "Can you still transform, and if you can, how long can you hold your transformation?"

Contemplating the miko's words, the neko slowly replied "I think I can transform again into my true form. Though I haven't tried since Kenshin forced me to that one time, I can still feel the power to spark that transformation buried deep within myself. However, how long I can hold that form is up for debate. I know Iya flew an entire day in his true form once before, but right now, I couldn't do that, I'm sure of it."

"What about having Kirara carry those two on her back and have someone keeping pace with her on the ground?" the female demon slayer questioned.

Shaking his head quickly, the male demon slayer spoke up, saying "That wouldn't work either, sister. Kirara is tough and more adept at keeping in her larger form, but even she wouldn't be able to fly in that form for an entire day."

"I realize that Kohaku, but we have to try something." Sango grunted out.

Hearing footsteps approaching the group, they glanced up, with some readying their weapons, only to see it was the silver haired dog demon. Coming to a stop near them, the demon lord stoically said "Byakuya Kuchiki is indeed dead."

"Thanks for pointing out the obviously." Inuyasha muttered while stuffing his hands into his sleeves and crossing his arms.

Moving towards the demon lord quickly, Rin looked up at him with pleading eyes, saying "Lord Sesshomaru, we need to get Ichigo and Iya to the Western Stronghold to heal. Please, will you help them get there?"

"Rin has a point." Miroku spoke up. "Lord Sesshomaru has the ability to travel at a much faster speed than either Lilly or Kirara. He could easily carry these two back to the Stronghold."

Earning himself a glare from the demon lord, the monk quickly added "Of course, it's up to Lord Sesshomaru naturally."

"Lord Sesshomaru."

Recognizing the voice of the half neko demon, the demon lord turned to look at her, only to find her bowing deeply before himself. Nodding to her, he watched as the neko looked up at him with pleading, shimering emerald eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I beg of you, please, take Ichigo and Iya back to the Western Stronghold so they can rest up and heal. Only you can get them there quick enough."

Falling onto her knees and bowing onto her hands, the neko whispered "Please, I beg of you this one favor. Whatever you ask of me as repayment, I shall do it. I just ask that you save the two of them. I don't want to lose either. So please, take them to the Stronghold."

Smelling salt and worry emanating from the neko's bowing form, the demon lord rolled the request around in his mind for a mere moment. Before he could answer, he felt someone tug at his left sleeve. Looking down, he saw that it was his ward, looking at him with a similar look that the neko had had.

"Please Lord Sesshomaru, they're both really hurt. They're out of danger for now, but they need to recover somewhere safe. Please, take them back to your home." the young brown eyed human pleaded.

Returning his gaze to the neko before himself, the silver haired dog demon slowly said "This Sesshomaru will honor your request, neko."

Watching her look up in surprise with tears streaking down her face, Sesshomaru added "But know that this Sesshomaru saves his half brother and that quarter breed on his own terms. This Sesshomaru owes his brother that much."

Pausing for a moment, the demon lord continued on, saying "Kohaku, this Sesshomaru charges you with protection of Rin."

"I understand and will not fail." Kohaku pledged.

Nodding, the demon lord returned his attention to the neko hanyou, saying "Neko, you shall bring both Rin and Kohaku to the Western Stronghold. This Sesshomaru expects them both to arrive unharmed and alive."

Receiving a mute nod in reply from the neko while she stood, the dog demon lord walked over to the fallen form of the neko's mate and the quarter demon. The others quickly stepped back away from the demon lord, giving him plenty of room. A white demonic aura slowly began forming around the dog demon and expanded slowly till it enclosed around not only himself, but the unconscious forms of the dog hanyou and quarter bobcat. Once enclosed, the aura formed a sphere, drawing the three closer together.

Slowly, the sphere lifted off of the ground and began hovering five feet above it. Giving one last look at the group, the demon lord returned his attention to the sky, causing the sphere to suddenly fly away from the group, leaving them standing and staring as the sphere vanished in the distance.

"We need to prepare to move out." Lilly spoke up, breaking the group away from the fading image of the demon lord.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Inuyasha spoke up finally, saying "I'm not going back to the Stronghold."

Before the half neko demon could ask why, the dog hanyou quickly said "Kagome, Sango, and Miroku are all three still not in top shape themselves. That damn wolf mage reversed their transformations during battle, leaving them a bit drained. I think they need to be taken somewhere to rest up as well."

"Besides, I don't think Sesshomaru would allow them to return. Being hanyou is one thing, but being human is another." the silver haired dog demon added.

The neko began to speak, only to be cut off by Rin, who said "I think Lord Inuyasha might be right. Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't mind all of you being there, but he couldn't guarantee your safety from the other demons in the Stronghold. They knew not to bother me since I'm his ward, but that doesn't mean they won't do something to anyone else."

"That's true, for there haven't been humans working within the Western Stronghold since the former Lord Inutaisho lived there." Ryo chimed in. "From what I had heard, the day Sesshomaru ascended to the throne of the Western Lands, he threw out every human servant within the Western Stronghold."

"Not too surprising for that prick." Inuyasha muttered, but not without a dark glare from his mate and the demon lord's ward.

İn a sing song voice, Kagome smartly said "Inuyasha..."

Knowing the tone she was using, the dog hanyou weakly looked at his mate and heard her scream "SIT BOY!"

All at once, the dog hanyou slammed into the ground face first. Turning her nose up to him, his mate grunted out "Insensitive jerk."

"Regardless of Lord Sesshomaru's tendancies, we should decide on what to do." Miroku declared.

Receiving nods all around, the group became silent for a moment before the female demon slayer spoke up, saying "It's about five days journey from here to the Western Stronghold on foot. İt is also a five day journey to Kaede's Village from here too. I suggest we go back to Kaede's and rest up. From there we can decide on what course of action to take."

"Agreed." the former monk commented. "We should be able to fully recover there."

"I can't go with you all." Lilly declared while turning her back away from the group. "I have to get to the Western Stronghold quickly. I can't..."

"We all know that, Lady Lilly." Miroku softly said. "And we all hope that Iya survives."

Silence enveloped the group till the bobcat mage spoke up, saying "I'm going with you, Lilly. I want to make sure Ichigo is alright."

Turning back towards the female bobcat mage, the neko nodded, saying "Alright. Kohaku and Rin, the two of you are going with us as well."

Glancing at the two dog demons left, the neko asked "What about you two?"

"I can't go back to the Western Stronghold..." Tsunade bitterly remarked. "Though I am an ally now, I can't return there. My family left long ago, so I don't think that I would be allowed to return."

"I'm not going either." Ryo declared, while moving up to beside of the dog demoness. Glancing down at her, the black haired dog demon slightly smiled, saying "I have no business there, though I wish to know how Iya is doing. Still, I would rather travel with you, Tsunade, if you don't mind."

Nodding in reply, the neko quietly replied "I understand."

Turning towards the female demon slayer, the neko timidly walked up to her and softly asked "I have a favor to ask of you, Sango."

"A favor?" Sango repeated with some confusion on her face.

Answering with a nod, Lilly softly responded with "Yes, I was wondering if you would allow me to borrow Kirara for our trip to the Western Stronghold. I want to get there as fast as possible, but with me alone carrying everyone for a half a day at best, we'll still not get there quick enough. That's why I figured if we had Kirara with us, once I tired and couldn't fly any longer, Kohaku and Rin could ride on her back while Orihime and I follow on foot. I think that would speed up our progress and cut down our travel by at least a day or two."

Rolling the request around in her mind for a moment, the female demon slayer smiled warmly and looked to her right shoulder where the golden colored neko sat. İn a calm tone, she asked softly "Kirara, do you want to help?"

Receiving a mew from the small golden colored neko, the slayer watched the small neko leap from her shoulder and towards the half neko demon. Expertly, the smaller neko landed onto the shoulder of the half demon and rubbed her cheek against the hanyou's.

"I'll take that as a yes, she'll be happy to help." Sango warmly remarked. "Just take good care of her, ok?"

Nodding in reply, Lilly solemnly replied "I promise, she'll be returned to you soon as possible, and that I will not allow any harm to befall her."

Returning the nod, the female demon slayer reached up and patted the smaller neko on the head, saying "Be good for Lilly."

Getting a mew in return, the demon slayer smiled and turned towards the former monk. Folding his arms over his chest, the silver haired hanyou spoke up, saying "We need to get going guys if we're going to make it back to Kaede's sometime this week."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kagome mumbled half-heartedly.

One by one, the humans filed through and said their goodbyes to one another. The red robed dog hanyou had stood off to the side till the miko walked over to him and elbowed him in the ribs gently. Finding a glare on the face of his mate, the hanyou sighed and stepped forward to the neko hanyou. With his arms still crossed and across his chest, he muttered "Take care."

"And take care of my brother." Inuyasha muttered under his breath quickly so that only a hanyou or full demon with their sensitive hearing could make out what he said.

Warmly smiling at the dog hanyou, the neko moved forward and embraced him, catching the dog hanyou completely off guard. İn a low tone, the neko whispered "Thank you."

Pulling away, the silver haired hanyou muttered "Feh" before walking away. With all of their goodbyes said, the group slowly began leaving till only the neko hanyou, the small golden neko, the male demon slayer, the demon lord's ward, the bobcat mage, and two dog mages remained.

"Lilly, I have a request to make of you." Ryo spoke up from behind the neko while she watched the group of humans and lone hanyou vanishing.

Turning around to face the black haired dog demon, the neko remained silent while the dog demon slowly said "I wish for you and the others to go ahead."

Glancing at the dog demoness a short distance away, who seemed fixated on the dead male dog demon, the neko sadly smiled and nodded. "I understand."

Moving forward, the neko embraced the dog demoness, shocking her back into reality. Pulling away, the neko quietly said "I hope to see you again soon, Lady Tsunade. Thank you for everything."

"No Lilly, thank you for helping me. I only hope that we see one another soon." Tsunade meekly replied.

Bowing to one another, the neko moved to the black haired dog demon, saying "Ryo, take care of yourself and Tsunade."

İn a low tone, she added "Take good care of her. She needs someone to help her."

"I know." Ryo softly replied. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

Nodding, the neko embraced the dog mage before turning back to the group. The remainder of the group said their goodbyes before the neko began walking away, with the small group of two humans, a bobcat mage, and small neko following her.

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Quietly walking a mile away from where they had left the others, the neko suddenly came to a stop, causing the remainder of the group to do so.

"Is something wrong Lilly?" Orihime questioned with a frown on her face.

Turning to face the group, the neko quietly replied "There is something I need to do before we leave. But to do it, I need to know all of you are safe."

Scanning the land, the neko finally returned her eyes to the ground where the small golden colored neko sat. Kneeling before the small neko, Lilly softly asked "Kirara, can you do me a favor and protect the others by taking them into the air for an hour?"

Cocking her head to the side, the small neko mewed, seemingly inquiring to why. Knowing she needed to explain herself, the half neko demon slowly said "I need to do something alone before we leave, but I don't want to leave all of you unprotected."

"I can defend everyone." Orihime piped up.

Shaking her head slightly, the neko replied "Orihime, you're still drained of your powers. I can't let you stay here to protect the others. Even you have to admit you're tired."

"I guess..." the bobcat mage muttered.

Returning her attention to the small neko, Lilly asked "So, Kirara, do you think you can do me that favor?"

Contemplating the request for a moment, the small neko let out a small mew with a nod. Giving the small neko a pat on the head, the neko hanyou warmly said "Thanks Kirara."

Stepping back a ways, the small neko burst into flames. From the flames, the larger form of the golden neko appeared. Padding softly towards the two humans and the lone bobcat demon, the large neko let out a soft growl. Wordlessly, the humans boarded the neko, while the bobcat mage worriedly looked at the black haired neko hanyou.

"I'll be fine, Orihime. This is something I need to do. I told Iya I would, and this won't take long, I promise." Lilly assured the mage.

Releasing a small sigh, the mage nodded and boarded the golden neko. Feeling all of her passengers were on, the golden neko stepped forward to the neko hanyou and nuzzled her nose up against her chest. Patting the neko's head, the hanyou smiled and softly whispered "Thank you, Kirara."

With the hanyou's words said, the large neko took to the air, leaving the hanyou standing alone and watching them ascend. Finally seeing they were far away enough, the neko hanyou began walking away towards the place she knew her task awaited her.


	67. Chapter 66: The Return Trip

**Hey gang! Not much has been going on this past week. My mate and I purchased a Wii Monday, which was fun to play, till yesterday... I tried to turn it on and it didn't come on. I believe it got a surge from a recent storm, so that means we have to take it back. Joy... But other than that, we're having fun with it. ****I also purchsed Heavenly Sword, a game for PS3, which has been interesting thus far. I haven't gotten too far, just through the first chapter of it, but thus far, I like how it's done. Otherwise, not too much has really been happening. I spent Valentine's Day helping out at a dinner for my step mom since my mate had to work. Though she had to work, I bought her flowers, lillies to be exact, which she liked. I saw my grandparents like always Sunday, and that's about it.**

**Writing wise, things are moving nicely with this story. I am down to 1-2 chapters, I think, though I'm unsure if it'll go to 3. I think I can end it in 2 at the most, but again, I'm unsure. Just depends on how the next chapter runs. As for finishing this story out in February, I don't think it's possible, but we'll see about that. It maybe more like the first week of March, but whatever I suppose.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Epada Zero: Yep, so much for Byakuya, who failed to defeat Iya. Things are slowing down a bit, though not completely. Heh, you might have sensed something between Ryo and Tsunade, but more than likely, he just stuck behind to help her through her difficult time. After all, she just lost her best friend and now has to bury him. I'm sure for her to recover from the loss, it'll take time. Heh, still on a sequel, eh? As for Aizen showing up and saying he was the true leader, nah. Byakuya is not a demon who seems one to be controlled, so that was out of the question. Interesting idea that you have for a fan fic. I hope it works out. Thanks for the review!**

**mcsnellies: I'm glad you like the story thus far, and that you can't help but keep reading it, hehe. Like I told you the other day, I try and keep things interesting. Heh, the fight will be interesting. I'm glad you really like this story. Thanks for your review!**

**kattana: Yeah, Lilly is a great mate for Iya. I did kind of not want to make the others human again, but it seemed like a good idea at the time for Byakuya to revert them back to their human forms in order for his three-quarters demon army to regain the upper hand against the group. Truthfully, I wish I could have kept them half demon, but it wasn't meant to be. Heh, yeah, Ryo needs to take good care of Tsunade. She definitely needs all of his support after losing Jiraiya. Hmm, what did Lilly promise Iya she would do? Good question. İt'll be pointed out in the future, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I really enjoyed reading all of them. It's always fun to see what everyone thought in the previous chapter. Thank you for sharing your ideas, comments, and expressions on the chapter. I really do appreciate it greatly. It lets me know that people are enjoying or pondering what I posted. Again, thank you, all of you. And if some of you that are reading wish to post a review, but think I'll attack you or rudely answer you, have no fear. I answer any and all reviews, be it flames or praises, or just a "job well done" post. Answering reviews has always been one of my top priorities, so feel free to drop a line or two to me.**

**At any rate, I need to run. Take care all, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 66**

Slowly waking, the half neko's emerald eyes gradually opened to the early morning hours. With a small yawn, the neko looked down from her branch at the group below her.

The two humans were sleeping close together, with young man holding the young woman in his arms and his head resting upon her own. On the edge of the blanket, the small golden and black colored neko slept. Up against a nearby tree, wrapped in her own blanket, the bobcat mage was in a deep sleep, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.

Sniffing the air and swiveling her ears, the neko determined that there was no danger in the area of the group. With this knowledge in mind, she stood up from the branch she had been sleeping on moments before and leapt out of the tree, being mindful to be quiet when landing. Softly, she walked away from the group towards the nearby stream that she had brought the group to the night before.

Finding the stream at last, she reached out with all of her senses, attempting to determine if there was any danger. Satisfied at last that there was none, the neko hanyou stripped her clothes off and grabbed a small cloth from her clothing before wading quietly into the water. A small shiver ran up her spine from the coolness of the water, but she hardened her resolve and waded deeper until she sank down into the water up to her neck. Releasing a small sigh, she dunked her head under the water and ran her clawed hands through her hair. Finishing up, she rose up out of the frigid water and hungrily gulped in fresh air into her lungs.

Shivering slightly, the neko drew her arms in close to her body in an attempt to keep her body heat from escaping. Releasing an annoyed sigh, she began scrubbing her body down with the rag she had brought. She carefully ran it over the place where her wounds from the day before still were, which were healing over, but were still visible. Her hands slowly wandered over her body till they finally came to the juncture of her neck and left shoulder. Stopping there, she carefully felt the twin marks on her neck. Slowly, her eyes slid shut as memories of the night that her mate accepted her and allowed her to mark him.

Images of her mate staring at her lovingly flowed through her mind, as she heard him say "_Lilly, I don't want you to change. I love you just the way you are._"

Smiling at his words, she remembered how he had gently made her his true mate that night, and the pair had become lifetime mates. Without warning, images of her mate lying on the ground, with blood pouring out of his shoulder wound appeared, making her suddenly snap her eyes open while panting lightly.

Glancing around, she sighed, murmuring "Iya…"

Staring up at the early morning sky, the neko couldn't help but suppress a whimper as thoughts of her mate invaded her mind. "_Iya, I only pray that you are alright, and that you'll be waiting for me once I arrive at the Western Stronghold. Wait for me, please. I will come to you, I swear._"

"_You are so silly, Lilly._" a familiar tone of her sword's spirit whispered.

Glaring at the sword laying near the water, the neko growled back "_Kimi, can't you leave me be!?_"

"_If you would call me by my true name, I might._" the spirit smartly replied.

Growling lowly at the sword near the edge of the water, Lilly grit out "_You are trying my patience! What do you want!?_"

"_To put your mind at ease._" the spirit calmly remarked. "_Lilly, you worry too much for your mate. He is strong and by no means likely to die before you arrive._"

Angered by the response she had gotten, the neko hanyou began to reply, only to stop when the words of the spirit sank into her mind. Relaxing for a moment, she whispered back "_Still, I'm worried. He seemed so weak, so powerless when I found him. If Iya died…_"

"_But he won't._" the spirit interrupted. "_Lilly, if he did die, your life would end as well in a blink of an eye. Lifetime mates die at almost the exact same moment. Their lives are linked, for if one is dead, the other is as well. That is why most demons prefer not to mate like that. Still, those like Iya and yourself, don't care about the consequences, and would rather die with the one that you love._"

Pausing for a moment, the spirit slowly added "_Regardless of that, your mate loves you very much, and he would never abandon you. So don't think he would abandon you now. If you have doubts still, ask the sword that your mate carries. You will find your answer in it._"

Digesting the words of the spirit of her sword, the neko stood up and allowed the water to roll off of her body. Immediately, she felt the cool air of the morning brushing against her skin, making her shiver a bit. Finding her way back to the bank of the stream, the hanyou walked out and dressed herself once more. Fully dressed, she brushed out her hair, which was still damp and clinging to kimono top.

Sitting and staring at the two swords before her, the neko reached out and placed her own sword within her obi. Reaching out to the other sword, she took hold of the hilt and drew it out of it's sheath. Staring at the unblemished blade, she held it carefully within her hands. She could smell the scent of her mate on the hilt of it, along with the blood of the enemies he had felled with the blade.

Suddenly, the sword pulsated, causing feelings of a desire to protect to wash over her mind. She could feel the caring and concern within the feelings, and the burning desire to not allow anyone to die.

Shaking herself out of the thoughts, she looked down at the sword again, seeing nothing was different. Sheathing it, she slid it into her obi with her own sword and slightly smiled while patting the sword. In a quiet voice, she said "Thank you, Ketsaiga."

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Upon arriving back at camp, the neko found the others were readying themselves for the day of traveling. They even had breakfast already prepared.

Sitting down, Rin smiled at her and handed her a fish, saying "Eat up."

"Thank you." Lilly quietly replied.

The group soon had everything gathered up and were ready to leave, with the fire already put out and smoldering. Standing before the group, the neko hanyou couldn't help but feel the center of attention since they were waiting on her.

Taking a deep breath, the neko slid her eyes shut and began looking within herself for the same power she had felt while in her full neko state. Frowning, she growled out in frustration when she couldn't find the power she wanted. Clenching her fists tightly, she continued to search herself for the power to transform, but again she came up empty.

Hearing a familiar voice chuckling, she groaned mentally when the image of the sand like cat creature appeared in her mind. In a curious tone, he asked "_Do you not know how to transform?_"

"_Shut up Kimi! İ know how to do it, thank you very much._" Lilly hissed at the spirit.

Smirking, he asked "_Then why don't you do so? The others are waiting on you. Your mate is waiting. Are you incapable of doing it again?_"

İnfuriated by the tone of the spirit, the neko screamed "_Why don't you shut up!? I can do this!_"

"_Not without my help._" the spirit flatly stated.

Agititated once more by the tone of the spirit, the neko began to harshly reply, only to stop herself. Releasing a heavy sigh, she grit out "_Will you help me?_"

"_With an attitude like that, maybe not._"

Angered at the snotty attitude of her sword's spirit, the neko bit her lower lip and attempted to calm herself. Finally feeling calmer, she slowly asked "_Will you please help me?_"

Seeing a smirk upon the sand cat's face, the neko heard him say "_I suppose I could. You must borrow my power to unleash the power you desire._"

"_How do I..._"

Before the neko could complete her sentence, she suddenly felt a rush of power throughout her body. The sword on her hip, belonging to herself, pulsated a few times. Feeling the new power, the neko slowly began looking into herself once more for the power she wished for. Finding it, she grasped hold of it and felt the power awaken once more.

A demonic wind instantly began blowing up around the neko hanyou, making the bobcat demoness force the two humans and the small neko back up. Slowly, the neko opened her eyes, revealing red corneas with yellow slit irises. A blast of demonic energy burst from her body while a cloud of smoke covered her. The smoke slowly settled, revealing the form of a large black cat with elongated fangs sticking out of her mouth, red mixed hair on her neck, red flames on her paws and a single flame on the tip of her tail.

Carefully, the bobcat demoness stepped forward. İn a soft voice, she asked "Lilly?"

Receiving a nod from the large black neko, the bobcat mage smiled and said "It's alright guys."

The two humans quickly moved forward towards the neko, who laid down onto the ground. At the same time, the bobcat mage noted that the neko's clothes were laying nearby. Picking them up and folding them, the bobcat mage quickly boarded the large neko.

"We're all one, Lilly." Orihime declared while gently patting the large neko's side.

With a small growl, the neko stood back up. The flames on her paws roared to life as she leapt into the air with her passengers. Each of the group held on tightly to the long fur of the neko, making sure none of them fell off by accident. Soon enough, they were several hundred feet in the air, with the ground far beneath them.

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Just after midday, the large black neko, with her four passengers on her back, was starting to begin heavily panting and suddenly descending. Sensing their descent, the bobcat mage nervously asked "Lilly, do you need to stop?"

Receiving a slight growl of confirmation, the group saw the ground quickly reappearing below them at a faster rate than they expected. Eyes widening, Orihime yelled "Lilly, you're coming in too fast!"

With a light growl, the large black neko began slowing her descent and leveling out. As gently as she could, the neko touched down onto the ground at long last. Quickly, the group slid off of her back and onto the ground.

Still panting heavily, the large neko walked a few steps away before falling onto the ground with a large thud. A moment passed and she suddenly glowed with a white aura. The aura soon faded, revealing a nude neko hanyou laying on her stomach and heavily panting.

Blushing furiously at the sight, Kohaku quickly turned away, along with Rin. Shrugging at the two young human's embarrassment, Orihime softly said "You two and Kirara go over behind those trees and wait for us. I'll bring Lilly soon."

Not receiving an answer, the bobcat mage watched the pair of humans and the small neko walk off towards the set of trees she had indicated. Returning her attention to the hanyou sprawled out on the ground, the demoness sat down onto her knees and began to check the hanyou's life signs, only to watch her begin to stir.

Slowly, the neko hanyou moved to her hands and knees and sat back onto her knees, but not without a grimace of pain flashing over her face. Pushing the pain aside, the neko attempted to stand, only to wince when she moved into a kneeling position.

"Lilly, maybe you should rest a while. Your transformation took a lot out of you." Orihime advised.

Shaking her head, the hanyou forced herself onto her feet while panting lightly. Sweat ran down the sides of her face and forehead while she stood. In a winded voice, she grunted out "I'm fine Orihime. We need to keep moving."

Shooting to her feet, the bobcat mage moved before the hanyou and grit out "Quite being so unreasonable and stubborn! You're completely worn out from our trip, and there is no way in hell I can agree to allow you to keep moving today. You need a few hours rest before we move on."

"We haven't the time for me to stop and rest." Lilly grunted out. "If we want to get to the Western Stronghold quickly..."

"Lilly, killing yourself to get there won't help Iya get any better!" Orihime growled out. Seeing the hurt in the hanyou's eyes, the mage looked down at the ground, softly saying "I'm sorry. I know you want to get to the Western Stronghold to make sure Iya is alright. I won't deny it, I want to get there quickly too to make sure Ichigo is alright, but I understand that we can't kill ourselves to get there. Neither of them would want us to do that. So please, rest a while."

Lightly chuckling, the demoness added "Besides, you really shouldn't go anywhere, unless you don't mind flaunting your body to every demon in the countryside."

Confused about the words of the bobcat mage, the neko frowned and began to ask what she meant when she suddenly felt her tail brush up against the bare skin of her left hip. Looking down, she instantly realized she was nude and let out a light squeal of surprise and attempted to cover herself with her hands and tail.

"Why didn't you tell me I wasn't wearing any clothes!?" the neko hissed.

Shrugging, the bobcat threw a pile of clothing and the two swords she had held onto to the neko, saying "Being nude doesn't bother me. I guess you haven't learned to keep your clothing glued to your form when you transform."

Casting a fierce glare at the mage, the neko hanyou carefully picked up her clothing and two swords with one hand and retreated behind a nearby tree. Alone at last, she quickly dressed and came out from behind the tree dressed at last.

"Lilly, I still believe we should rest for a while. You shouldn't push yourself." Orihime sternly advised.

Pursing her lips, the neko hanyou remained quiet for a few moments. At long last, she quietly replied "We'll rest for an hour. İ think that'll be enough for me to regain my strength so we can move on."

Nodding in agreement, the demoness calmly said "I guess we'll see how you feel in an hour. Let's go get the others first, ok?"

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The hour break came and went for the group, with the neko hanyou insisting she was fine. The group hesitantly moved on, with the neko leading the pack.

The remainder of the day went well, with the group moving along quickly through the Western Lands, with the neko continuing to lead. As the day was coming to an end, the hanyou showed no signs of wishing to stop.

By this time, the blonde and black neko was starting to slow a bit. She was keeping up for the most part, but the fast pace the neko hanyou was setting was starting to wear on her. Still, the large neko continued to try and keep up, only to find she was losing ground bit by bit.

Glancing over her shoulder at the slower moving neko, the hanyou called out "Kirara, come on, we've still got an hour or two to go."

Releasing a light growl of irriration, the large neko pushed forward, seemingly in vain, to keep up with the pace of the hanyou. Noting this, the bobcat mage moved closer to the hanyou, saying "Lılly, perhaps we should stop for the night."

"We still have an hour or two of light left. We'll stop then." Lilly casually replied.

Frowning, the bobcat mage sighed, saying "Lilly, Kirara is tired, and I don't doubt the others are too. Even you have to be a bit tired."

"I can keep this up for a while longer."

Annoyed by the responses of her friend, the bobcat mage came to a screeching stop. The large neko did the same out of confusion, while the hanyou continued to run on. Realizing she was alone, the neko hanyou came to a stop and walked back to the group.

Folding her arms over her chest, Orihime firmly said "We're stopping for the night."

"Orihime, this isn't the time to be arguing over when we stop. When Iya was here, he..."

"He would stop close to an hour before dark, allowing us to set up camp." the demoness answered. "I haven't forgotten, but you seem to have. Remember Lilly, Kohaku and Rin are human, so setting up camp during the night is not an ideal situation. Besides that fact, Kirara is tired, and so are you."

About to argue back, the hanyou stopped and bit her lower lip. Releasing a heavy sigh, she grunted out "I guess you're right. We'll set up camp for the night."

Receiving an approving nod from the group, the two humans began building a fire while the bobcat demoness opted to go hunt for dinner. This left the neko hanyou and smaller neko to stand guard over the camp and to rest a bit.

Finding a nearby tree, the hanyou leapt into it and rested up against the trunk on a branch that was halfway up the tree. Immediately, she felt her eyes growing heavy and body screamed for rest. Mentally chuckling, she muttered "_I guess Orihime was right. I'm more tired than I thought._"

Being lulled to sleep, the hanyou felt herself losing touch with the world. Below her, the small neko was already napping while the two humans were chatting quietly amongst themselves.

Hearing rustling coming from nearby, the young man glanced up towards it, expecting it to be the bobcat mage. İnstead, an ugly red skinned ogre demon with a bone club in hand and a gray cloth loincloth charged out of the bushes towards the pair of humans.

Before the young man could react and draw his weapon, two more ogres, one brown and the other green, appeared on each side of the pair of humans. Both humans were quickly grabbed up, making each cry out.

Hearing the sound of the cry, the hanyou instantly woke up and gazed down at the ground to see the two ogres had the pair of humans in their grasp. Standing from her spot, the neko drew her sword and leapt out of the tree to the ground near the two ogres.

Brandishing the blade at the nearest one, she grit out "Let them go and leave. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to use force."

"What have we here, a weakling half breed who thinks she can do something about us!?" the third ogre from behind the neko grunted out.

Sneering, the brown ogre holding the young woman smugly said "She'll make a good main course, unlike these humans."

Growling lightly, the neko took a few steps towards the offending brown orge, only to be stopped when the green one spoke up, saying "Uh, uh, uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you."

About to sound off on the interrupting ogre, the neko gasped when she saw the ogre that had spoke was the green one and held a blade up to the neck of the young man. Realizing the life of the young human was in danger, the neko lowered her sword and hid her eyes below her bangs.

"That's a good half breed." the red skinned ogre smartly said.

İn a low growl, the neko hanyou ground out "You should have left while you still could. Roar Haineko."

Hearing the command of it's master, the sword's blade dissolved into seemingly nothingness, leaving a bewildered set of ogres. The brown skinned ogre grunted out "What did you just do!? Tell me half breed!"

"Why don't I show you." the hanyou defiantly replied while looking up at the ogre.

Without warning, the green and brown ogres released howls of pain as their arms were sliced off by what looked like ash. The two fell backwards onto the ground, each screaming out in pain while blood spilled from their stumps. Confused at what had happened, the red ogre charged towards the hanyou with a war cry filling the air. He swung his heavy club at the neko hanyou, only to hit a barrier of ash that swirled around the half demon protectively.

"If you value your life, and your friends, you'll take them and leave." Lilly dangerously stated.

Angered by her words, the ogre roared "NO HALF BREED ORDERS ME AROUND!"

Pulling back his club, the ogre slammed it at the hanyou once more, only this time, he hit nothing due that the hanyou had taken to the air. Watching the hanyou point at him, the ogre was unsure to what she was doing, but didn't have long to find out as suddenly his body began developing numerous wounds. Without warning, his head was severed from his body. The same thing instantaneously happened to the other ogres, leaving the three dead bodies behind. Suddenly, the ash in the air began encircling the three bodies and grinding them into nothingness, leaving only blood stains on the ground as proof of the three ogres existance.

A moment passed as the ash returned to the neko and reformed into her sword. Sheathing the sword, she let out a low grunt and fell to one knee while panting. Rushing to her aide, the two humans checked on the neko, only to have her slowly stand up.

"I'm alright." Lilly quietly said. "I'm sorry I put you two in that situation. İ should have detected them sooner, but I have no excuse."

Smiling at the hanyou brightly, Rin calmly replied "There is no need to be sorry, Lilly. We weren't paying too much attention either, so it's not your fault."

"Rin is right, I let my guard down and didn't even think to keep watch. İ'm sorry we put you into that kind of situation." Kohaku apologetically remarked.

Sighing slightly, the neko smiled back, saying "Don't worry about it. We'll just call it all of our faults. For now, though, I'm going to stand guard in the tree. Once I have dinner, I'm turning in."

Receiving a nod in reply from both humans, the neko hanyou returned to her branch in the tree and continued her fight against the lulling thought of slumber.

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Another day and a half passed for the group, with all five members swiftly moving towards the Western Stronghold. The day and a half that had proceeded the first tiring day were uneventful, with the neko hanyou continuing to push herself and the group to their limits.

Flying high in the sky, the large black neko spotted in the distance the capital of the Western Lands and let out a small joyful growl. Pushing her body to it's limits and beyond, the neko sped up. Within an hour's time, the group finally reached their destination.

Seeing a large courtyard that was before the Western Stronghold, the neko began her descent towards it, but at a bit of a slower pace. She saw several demons moving into the courtyard, seemingly awaiting her arrival. One of the demons she spotted was the Lord of the West himself, who was slowly walking out into the courtyard.

Touching down gently, the large black neko came to rest and softly laid down onto the ground, allowing the others to slide off of her back. Standing up herself, the neko wobbled slightly and let out a light growl. She was already panting heavily due that she was nearly out of energy, plus she had pushed herself the last hour to arrive at their destination.

Noting the neko's state, the demon lord walked forward and greeted the group with an approving nod. Glancing at the bobcat mage, who was holding something in her arms, the demon lord returned his attention to the neko, who was still heavily panting.

İn a smooth voice, Sessshomaru said "All of you but the hanyou will leave."

"Lord Sesshomaru, I wish to remain." Orihime declared while bowing respectfully to the demon lord.

Casting his amber eyes upon the demoness, the demon lord calmly replied "This Sesshomaru wishes to speak with the hanyou alone."

"Please my lord, allow me to remain. She doesn't..."

"This Sesshomaru shall not repeat himself. Leave."

Hesitantly , the pair of humans, with the young man having the smaller neko on his shoulder, began walking away. Defiantly, the bobcat demoness stood her ground while all of the others that had gathered in the courtyard dispersed.

Hardening his eyes, the dog demon coolly said "Do not defy this Sesshomaru, mage. This Sesshomaru saved that quarter breed, but should you defy this Sesshomaru in his home, you will be punished."

Biting her lower lip, the bobcat demon glanced at the panting neko. Seeing a slight nod coming from her, the demoness walked closer to the neko and set the clothing she held in her arms on the ground before her. İn a quiet whisper, she said "I'm sorry, Lilly."

Receiving a small growl of appreciation, the bobcat demoness walked silently away from the courtyard. As she passed the stoic demon lord, she whispered dangerously low "If you harm her, I will make certain you pay for it."

With her words said, the demoness walked into the Stronghold, leaving the large black neko with the demon lord. Staring at the neko, the dog demon noted her legs were trembling. She was also casting a fierce look back at the dog demon, seemingly daring him to do or say something to her.

"You are unable to keep your clothes glued to your person when you transform, are you not?"

Surprised at the words of the dog demon, the neko cast her eyes at the ground. Noting this, the demon lord spoke up, saying "It is quite distasteful to have this Sesshomaru's sister-in-law running about with no clothing."

Looking up at the dog demon with defiant eyes, the neko let out a low growl of annoyance, only to be ignored. Walking closer to the neko, the demon lord saw her tense up while lowly growling. With only five feet seperating the two, the demon lord came to a stop and stared at the neko.

"That will not do and must change."

Turning away from the neko, the demon lord walked away silently, leaving a bewildered neko in his wake. Shaking the confusion from her mind, the neko picked up her clothing and two swords within her mouth and trotted silently to a nearby area where she was shielded from view. After a moment of determining she was not exposed to anyone, the neko reverted back to her humaniod form and quickly dressed. Placing both swords within her obi sash, she silently walked towards the Stronghold with purpose in her steps.

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Walking down the long hallway towards where she remembered Iya had taken her, Lilly, couldn't help but feel nostalogic over. "_It was here in this very place that he gave me both Kimi and his mother's clothing._"

Seeing a familiar face of the young woman that had escorted her and the others on their prior visit, Lilly called out "Momo!"

Hearing her voice, the demoness turned towards the hanyou and smiled slightly. Walking to her, Momo warmly said "Lady Lilly."

"You don't have to be so polite with me." the hanyou admonished in a friendly tone. "Just call me Lilly."

"Of course, Lady Lilly." the demoness replied in a sly tone.

Sighing, the neko hanyou asked "Could you show me to where Iya is being kept?"

"But of course. He's in his old room still." Momo curtly remarked. "I was actually on my way to his room. I'll show you the way."

Nodding in appreciation, the neko fell in step with the hybrid wolf and dog demon. The two quietly walked towards the dog hanyou's room, with only the rustle of their clothing being the only sound that was heard.

Nearing the room of the male hanyou, the demoness bit her lower lip. Noting this, the neko hanyou asked "Is something wrong?"

"I don't wish to speak out of turn, but may I ask you something?" the hybrid demon softly questioned.

Warmly smiling, the neko calmly replied "You can ask me anything you want. I'll try to answer you best I can."

Remaining quiet for a few steps, the hybrid demon came to a stop. İn a quiet tone, the demoness asked "Lord Iya mated with you while he was gone, didn't he?"

"Yes, we mated." Lilly answered without hesitation.

The scent of salt immediately filled the air, making the hanyou turn towards the hybrid demoness in confusion. Seeing her eyes were brimming with tears, the neko heard her say in a bit of a broken voice "I guess I should have known he would mate with you while he was gone."

"Momo..."

Looking over at the neko and wipping her tears away, the demoness replied "I'm sorry. It's just me being stupid and still holding onto a dream from long ago. He told me last time to move on and find someone, and even then I knew how he looked at you, but I still held on for some dumb reason."

"And then when Lord Sesshomaru brought Lord Iya back and I was helping take care of him, I saw the mating mark on him. All at once, the realization that he was no longer there was hard for me, making me realize that he was right last time."

Apologetically smiling, the demoness added "I'm truly happy for the two of you. I know you'll take good care of Lord Iya. He needs someone to, that is for sure."

Processing the words of the demoness, the neko did the only thing she could think to do and reached forward and embraced the hybrid demon. İn a whisper, the neko hanyou softly said "I'll do my best. Thank you."

Blushing from the sign of affection of the hanyou, the demoness allowed the embrace and finally seperated herself from her. Smiling at one another, Momo turned back towards the direction they were headed, saying "Let's go see how Lord Iya is doing."

Getting a nod of reply, the hybrid demon continued showing the way for the hanyou. The pair soon appeared before the door to the room of the dog hanyou. Knocking softly, the pair heard a feminine voice say "Come in."

Walking in, the pair found a beautiful demoness with a fluffy silver fox tail swishing behind herself, a pair of silver fox ears on her head with mid-back length silver hair that was bound in a ponytail, and emerald eyes checking on the dog hanyou in his bed. The demoness wore a set of gold and blue robes that contured to her body perfectly, leaving hints of her numerous curves.

Moving away from the dog hanyou and turning towards the new arrivals, the demoness smiled sweetly at the pair, saying "It's good to see you again Momo. Who is this with you?"

"Kiyomi, this is Lord Iya's mate, Lady Lilly. She just arrived not long ago." Momo calmly replied.

Bowing to the hanyou, Kiyomi rose and said "It is nice to meet you, Lady Lilly. I am Kiyomi, one of the healers for the Western Lands that stays here at the Stronghold."

Moving forward to her mate's side, the neko asked "How is he?"

"He is fine, milady." the silver haired demoness replied curtly. "When Lord Iya arrived, he had lost quite a bit of blood, but the wound on his left shoulder was already beginning to heal on it's own. Lord Sesshomaru told me that he was partially healed before he embarked on the trip back to the Western Stronghold. Now his wound is fully healed, but he is still rather weak. He hasn't awoke since arriving a day and a half ago."

Casting a glance at the demoness, the neko curiously asked "Do you mean that Lord Sesshomaru brought Iya and Ichigo here in a day's time?"

"Yes, he apparently travelled non-stop for one full day. Upon arrival, he was rather weak. Still, Lord Sesshomaru went about the business of the day and retired early to bed. Ever since, Lord Sesshomaru has been fulfilling his duties daily." Kiyomi answered.

Lightly smiling, the neko returned her vision to her mate. Quietly, she asked "How long will he be like this?"

"I gather until Lord Iya regains his energy." the silver haired demoness answered. "He used up all of his demonic energy apparently in his battle. İ was curious though, milady, where is the sword that he carried? İt was not on him when he arrived here."

Patting her left hip, the neko revealed the second sword in her obi, saying "I found Ketsaiga near his body when I discovered him. İ kept the sword with me by accident."

Nodding, the silver haired demon replied "I see. I'm sure Lord Iya will be happy that you retreived it for him."

Bowing deeply, the demoness rose up, saying "I must go check on the quarter bobcat and make sure he is doing well also."

"Is Ichigo alright?" the neko ventured.

Smiling slightly, the silver haired demoness replied "He is recovering, though his mood is a bit sour."

Frowning, the neko asked "What do you mean?"

"When the quarter bobcat arrived, he was still conscious. One of the other healers took care of the remainder of his wounds, but he protested that he was fine and he wanted to be alone. She did not listen and healed him fully. Still, he won't be up and about for a few days more. His body was badly injured, and if he moves too soon, he may reinjure himself."

Lightly smiling, Kiyomi added "He has not been happy with that information, and demanded to be let out of his room. For his own safety, we have placed wards around his bed so that he cannot leave it."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Lilly questioned.

Shaking her head, the silver haired demoness replied "Not really. Wards will keep him from hurting himself more than a barrier would."

Nodding slowly, the neko quietly said "I guess. At that, I will no longer keep you from your duties. Thank you for everything, Kiyomi."

Bowing once more, the silver haired demoness replied "No, thank you, Lady Lilly."

"You don't have to call me Lady Lilly." the neko demon grumbled. "Just Lilly is fine."

"I'm sorry, milady, but formality is a must for the residents of this palace." Momo interjected.

Sighing, Lilly calmly replied "Then when we're alone, both of you have the right to call me just Lilly, ok?"

Lightly smiling, the silver haired demoness replied "Very well, Lilly."

With her words said, the silver haired demoness walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her. Bowing to the neko herself, the hybrid demon politely said "I must attend to other chores at the moment, milady. İf you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Can you calling me Lilly be included in that asking?" Lilly teasingly questioned.

Smiling, the black haired demon replied "I shall do my best, Lilly."

Turning and walking towards the door, the hybrid demon stopped at it. With a small smile on her face, she glanced back at the neko hanyou, saying "You are exactly like Lord Iya, Lady Lilly. He prefers me to call him by his first name also. I shall try to remember that from here on."

With the demoness leaving the room, the neko let out a small sigh. Pulling Ketsaiga from her obi, she walked over to a mount on the wall that had two empty slots on it. Placing the sword into the top slot, she couldn't help but think the second slot had been created for when he had a mate so that she could place a sword in it. Deciding to put Kimi in the slot, she did so and began to return to the side of the best, only to stop when she saw a portrait on the wall.

Looking at it closely, she studied the figure in the portrait. In it, the image of a female dog hanyou stood. She wore the same outfit that the neko was wearing, along with the same sword strapped to her hip that she used.

"Lady Asami."

Picking up the scent of the roses that were growing in a nearby vase, the neko couldn't help but smile at them. "_Iya must dearly miss her. I only wish he could meet her once, just to know what she was like._"

Releasing a small sigh, she returned to the side of the bed where a chair sat. Taking a seat, she looked down at her mate, who was in a deep, peaceful sleep. Running a clawed hand through his hair, she smiled slightly and quietly said "I hope you sleep peacefully, my mate. I'll be here when you wake up."

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Standing in a large field of swaying grass, a black haired dog hanyou inhaled the air around him and smiled. The sleeves of his black kimono top ruffled in the wind, seemingly lazily swaying with it. His normally bound black hair floated in small wisps into the air and blew about him.

Walking further into the field of grass, the hanyou couldn't help but feel at peace for the first time in a long time due to his surroundings. Sniffing the air, the scent of the grass entered his nostrils, along with a scent that he was unfamiliar with. Frowning, he began scanning the land, finding a figure standing some distance from himself. The figure appeared to be watching him from where they stood.

Feeling a bit uneasy about this, the hanyou began walking towards the figure. The closer he got, the more he learned about them. Their scent smelled of lillies and fresh cut flowers, along with the smell of spring season. He could see that they had black hair that reached their calves in length, with two dog ears a top their head, making him believe they were a hanyou. The clothing the person helped him identify that the figure was a young woman, who wore a fine blue silk kimino top that had pink sakura flowers embroidered into it. She wore a sword on her hip that had a black sheath and a pink hilt. When the wind blew, he caught a glimpse of a fluffy black tail behind the young woman.

Closing the gap, the hanyou saw that the young female hanyou had muddy brown eyes, much like his own. Reaching her, he was able to look at her more closely, finding she many similar features to a familiar portrait that hung in his room.

Bowing lightly, the young woman smiled and in a kind, sweet voice, she said "You've finally arrived, Iya."

Returning the bow, the male hanyou hesitantly replied"I... I know you."

Smiling a bit more, the young black haired woman softly said "It's no surprise you don't know know my name, or really remember me. After all, you have only seen and heard of me, but never met me in person."

Moving forward till she was only an arm's length away, the female hanyou reached out and cupped the stunned male hanyou's cheek, saying "You've grown into such a handsome young man."

Eyes widening, Iya whispered "Mother?"

Nodding in reply, the female hanyou saw her son's eyes begin filling up with tears that spilt out onto his cheeks. İn a flash, he was embracing her tightly, allowing his tears to fall without shame.

"Mother..." he quietly sobbed into female hanyou's shoulder.

Returning the embrace, the female hanyou allowed her own tears to fall, whispering "I am so sorry my son."

At last pulling back and looking at one another, the two couldn't help but give off soft laughter at the fact both were crying. Reaching out and wiping away his mother's tears, the male hanyou quietly said "I've always wished I could meet you."

"I know, my son." Asami whipsered back. "I have wanted to speak to you for so long, but have been unable to do so."

Frowning, Iya asked "What kept you from seeing me?"

Turning away slightly, the female hanyou released a light sigh. Glancing up at the sky, she calmly replied "You blamed yourself for so long over something you had no control over. İt was not until just a few days ago that you finally accepted that it was not truly your fault for what happened. When you admitted that to yourself, the barrier that prevented me from seeing you was at long last lifted."

"Do you mean that my blaming myself over what happened to Kaia kept you from me for all of these years?" Iya asked in surprise.

Mutely nodding, Asami quietly responded with "The guilt and sorrow you felt in your heart over what happened with Kaia did keep me away. Now that you have let that go, I am capable of seeing you this one time."

"One time!?" the male hanyou asked with worry and concern in his voice. "But I don't want you to go away again! İ want to be with you!"

Turning back to her son, the female hanyou sadly smiled, saying "Iya, I cannot be with you as you wish for me to. This one time of seeing you is all that I can do. It was my wish to speak with you once at the least, so you could know the mother that you never truly did meet."

"I don't want you to go..." Iya whispered with glassy eyes.

Moving forward and embracing her son gently, Asami whispered "I know, and I don't wish to leave you, but I am only allowed to visit you this one time."

Kissing the male hanyou's forehead, she warmly added "I'm quite proud of the man you have become. I only wish I had been there while you grew up. All I could do was watch over you, and pray to Kami that you would turn out alright. But I should have known you would."

Blushing slightly at the praise, the male hanyou reached out and grabbed hold of his mother's hand. Bringing it up, he kissed it and nuzzled his cheek against it.

"I've dreamed my whole life of meeting you." he faintly whispered while inhaling her scent once more.

Stroking his hair while her son rested his head against her shoulder, the female dog demon soothingly said "I have always wished to meet you too, my son. You have made your father and I both very proud at all you have accomplished. Despite all that has happened to you, you have shown that you are your own person. Pieces of myself and your father are in you, but you have your own personality, which is good for you."

"And I am happy that you found someone in this life to make you happy also." Asami added. "I have already met with Lilly, and she is a very lovely young woman."

Lifting his head up to look his mother in the eye, Iya asked "When did you meet Lilly?"

"I met with her after you mated with her and she helped relieve your heat." the female hanyou informed her son. "She is quite a young woman, who loves you so very much. The kind of love she has for you is special, and the type that you return is just as special. The two of you were meant to be together."

Digesting his mother's words, the male hanyou asked "Am I truly worthy of her though?"

"Iya, to her, you are something that she doesn't deserve, but you feel the same way about her." Asami remarked. "Both of you are wrong though. Each of you deserve one another, for the love that is between the two of you is a special and powerful love, that will only continue to grow stronger over time. So please, don't doubt her feelings for you. They are as real as your feelings for her."

Mutely nodding, the hanyou buried his nose into his mother's hair and inhaled deeply. İn his mind, he added the scent to his memory so that he could never forget.

Smiling at her son's actions, Asami continued to stroke his hair, softly whispering kind words to him. For a long hour, the pair did nothing but embrace one another, with each memorizing each other's scents and faces.

At the end of the hour, the female hanyou heavily sighed and released her embrace. "Iya, it's nearly time for me to leave."

Feeling pain in his heart from the thought of not having his mother with him once again, Iya whimpered out "Please don't go."

Looking at her son, Asami quietly said "Iya, I must leave. Nothing you do or say can stop me from it."

"But know that I don't want to leave you. If I could defy death and return to you, I would."

Seeing her son was staring at the ground, the female hanyou reached out and lifted his chin so she could look into his muddy brown eyes with her own. "Iya, know that I will always love you with all of my heart. You are my son, and I shall never forget you. One day we'll see one another again, but till then, devote yourself to your mate. You need her just as much as she needs you. Please, do take care of one another."

Meekly nodding, the male hanyou whispered "I love you, mother. I will never forget you. I promise, I will see you one day again."

With a solemn smile, the female hanyou kissed her son on the cheek and hugged him one last time. The male hanyou immediately tightened his grip on his mother. Finally releasing her and watching her take a step back, Iya couldn't help but let a few tears slid down his face. Asami looked at him with the same face, with tears flowing down her own cheeks.

"Good bye, for now." she faintly whispered as her body began to vanish into thin air.

Feeling more tears rushing out, the male hanyou whispered "Good bye."

A moment passed and the female hanyou vanished completely, leaving the lone male hanyou behind. Collapsing onto the ground, he allowed his tears to pour out. Remembering his mother's words, he slowly collected himself and stood. Sniffing the air one last time, he lightly smiled and faintly whispered "Mother, I will never forget you. We'll see one another one day."


	68. Chapter 67: Remembrance

**Hello again everyone. Well, this past weekend, not too much happened. I ended up staying home all weekend, with my mate having to work both days. It snowed Sunday morning, early, so we didn't go to church. I ended up taking my mate to work that day and just going out to dinner with my dad and step mom. I stopped in and talked to my mate after that, only to find out she had to work till 3 AM that morning. It was all good, I suppose, though I had to go get her, which somewhat sucked. Anyways, other than that, not much else happened. I beat my new game for PS3, Heavenly Sword. I must say, it was a great game to play, though I wish it had been longer. It only took me Thursday night, part of Saturday, and part of Sunday to beat it. Not even really 15 hours I'd have to guess, or maybe less. The ending was kind of surprising and sad, but good nonetheless. Ah yes, following up on the broken Wii, I was bored Sunday at the house and started playing with all the little pieces on the Wii. I just opened and closed all it's little shutter doors and so on, just more or less playing as I said. Well, just out of dumb curiosity, I plugged it back up and it came back to life. I hooked it back up to the TV and turned it on, and sure enough, it was working, so our Wii has come back to life. Since then, I've been playing Wii Sports a bunch, more or less boxing and tennis. It's a lot of fun, though it's getting harder with each match. Plus I have to box left handed since I can't seem to connect with my right hand, which sucks since I'm naturally right handed. It just feels strange to have to use my left hand, but I had to guess, just by the feel, I'm adept at using it. I found that out when I'm driving too, that my left hand seems more steady than the right, so fun fun.**

**Writing wise, I'm fairly certain there is only 1-2 chapters left. I think I can wrap things up next time, but again, I'm not ruling out the possibility of one more chapter following it. I'll find out pretty quick I suppose. This chapter really was longer than I originally intended, but it all works out.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**mcnsellies: Glad you really liked the chapter. Yes, the ending with Iya and his mother was quite a touching one. I thought he should have at least one meeting with her since he's finally ready to move on with his life. Heh, Lilly's purpose will be explained this chapter. I know I said that last chapter, but you'll get it this time. Hmm, Lilly returning Ketsaiga was her purpose? Nah, I'll say no to that. Thank you for your review!**

**Espada Zero: Glad you thought it was sweet, and yeah, it was a slow chapter. Really, there aren't any battles left I suppose. Heh, writing something slow isn't too bad really. I don't mind it from time to time. Heh, Sesshomaru getting his ass kicked? Not likely, unless he finds someone really strong. Even Iya is more or less even with him. Cool about your story. I look forward to seeing it, should I get time… Finding time sucks, lol. A sequel? Eh, that's still undecided. Everyone will find out eventually. I'll let everyone know sometime soon on what I do. Thanks for the review!**

**kattana: LOL! Well, I guess Sesshomaru could have, but that would have probably made Lilly a bit uncomfortable, if not him also. Yeah, poor Momo is now on her own, but I'm sure she'll find someone eventually. Yeah, Iya got to meet his mom finally, and that went over well for him. Heh, Ichigo is just a curious case on his own. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciate them. I know, I say that every chapter, but honestly, I do enjoy them. They give me a little insight into what everyone is thinking about the story, and it lets me know if I'm on the right track or if I need to go a different direction. Plus comments are just always a plus in writing. And to anyone who hasn't reviewed before and wish to, please do feel free. I won't attack you for your review. My mate wouldn't allow it, probably…**

**Anyways, thank you once again to all of you. I hope you like the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 67**

Staring down at the sleeping form of her mate, the neko hanyou released a light sigh while stretching out in her chair. Four and a half days had passed since she had arrived, and still her mate had yet to wake from his slumber. The healers, including the bobcat mage and the silver fox demoness, had conveyed to her that the dog hanyou would wake up in due time, but he had to first regain all of his lost strength.

"_Like that helped calm my worries._" the neko grumbled within her mind.

Though she sat by his side a majority of the day, she was practically dragged out in the evenings, including the one she had arrived on, by the dog demon lord to begin training under his tutelage. Unlike the quarter bobcat or her mate, the demon lord was not hesitant at fighting her with nearly all of his strength. She could tell he held back somewhat, but not by much, unlike how her previous teachers had. Still, the training had helped occupy her mind from the worry that was continuing to build over her sleeping mate. She couldn't help but be appreciative to the demon lord for his efforts in occupying her.

"_I wonder if you'd be proud of me for improving my skills while you slept? I want to become just as strong as you so I can help protect everyone that I care about._" the neko pondered in her mind.

Letting out another sigh and closing her eyes, the neko began to feel her consciousness slipping into a soft slumber, only to stop when she heard a soft moan. Her eyes immediately snapped open and focused on the dog hanyou, whose face was scrunched up slightly.

A moment passed and gradually, the dog hanyou's eye lids cracked open, revealing unfocused muddy brown eyes. Taking a bit of a deep breath, the dog hanyou's vision slid over to the neko hanyou, who sat staring at him intently.

"Lilly…" he faintly whispered.

Immediately, the neko's eyes began to become glassy. A few tears slid down her cheeks while she nodded in reply, softly saying "Iya, you're finally awake."

In an attempt to sit up, the male hanyou found his body sluggish and not willing to move as he commanded. Before he could attempt to move again, he felt a warm hand on his chest. Looking up, he noted it was his mate's, who had a concerned look displayed on her face.

"Don't try to move, Iya. You haven't fully recovered from your battle with that mage, Byakuya Kuchiki." the neko commanded.

Deciding against arguing, the dog hanyou stopped his movement. Becoming more aware of his surroundings from his senses, he asked "Are we back at the Western Stronghold?"

Nodding in reply, the neko quietly responded with "Yes, we returned to the Western Stronghold so both Ichigo and you could recover from your injuries."

Eyes widening a fraction, the male hanyou hurriedly asked "The others, are they alright!?"

"They're fine, Iya." Lilly softly commented. "All of the others that were turned human were well protected by the others."

Releasing a small sigh of relief, Iya quietly said "Thank goodness. I didn't think Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Orihime, or Ryo would allow any harm to come to them, but I was still worried."

Inhaling the air around him, the male hanyou slid his eyes shut and slightly smiled. "I missed your scent."

Cracking a small smile herself, the neko replied "I've been submerged in your scent since I arrived here at the Stronghold, but I still missed your company."

Quieting for a moment, the male hanyou slowly asked "How long was I out?"

"You were asleep for seven days." Lilly declared. Lightly chuckling, she added "I'm guessing you have finally caught up on all that sleep that you missed throughout the years you were chasing the mages."

Brow furrowing, Iya quietly questioned "Seven days?"

Seeing the seriousness on her mate's face, the neko softly said "You used up all of your energy in your fight with Byakuya Kuchiki. Really, you're pretty lucky I suppose that I found you, or so Kiyomi says."

"Kiyomi?" the dog hanyou asked with a frown. Realization hit him instantly, causing him to quickly say "Oh yeah, you meant the silver fox demon who is a healer, right?"

Nodding in reply, the neko casually said "Yes, she was the one that took care of you when you first arrived six days ago."

"Wait, I got here six days ago?" Iya asked in confusion. "How did all of you get here so fast?"

Biting her lower lip, the neko replied "Actually, it wasn't all of us that got here that fast. Lord Sesshomaru flew both Ichigo and yourself here by himself. He used his energy sphere to carry the two of you here quickly. Orihime and Tsunade both had told him that the two of you needed bed rest, and someplace safe to remain so that both of you could heal. The best place we could figure was here, at the Western Stronghold."

"And Sesshomaru willingly brought us here?" Iya asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lightly chuckling at her mate, Lilly smiled and said "I actually pleaded with him to. He surprised me when he responded that he would honor my request and do it because he felt he owed you that much."

Noting her mate was digesting her words, the neko continued on, saying "Before he left, he charged Kohaku with Rin's safety, and then me with both of their safeties. I agreed to it naturally, and kept to my word."

"I suppose that showed Sesshomaru that he can trust you with important matters." Iya commented.

Nodding, the neko added "Once he left, Inuyasha and the group of humans left to go back to that village where we first found them. They needed to recover as well, and preferred to go there since Lord Sesshomaru would not like that many humans returning to the Stronghold."

"Yeah, I'd have to guess that Sesshomaru wouldn't want all of them here. It would just be inviting trouble from the other demons of the royal court. After all, he had enough to deal with when the others were all here last time as hanyous." the dog hanyou commented.

"I guess… Not too many demons seem to like the fact that I'm here, again." the neko softly remarked. "But then again, a lot of demons have been very respectful to me also, so I can't say one way or another."

Pausing for a moment, the neko finally said "Anyways, before I left, I asked for them to leave Kirara behind so that the trip back to the Stronghold would be quick. Sango agreed to it and left her in my care. Once they had left, Ryo told us that he was going to stay behind with Tsunade. I can only guess he stayed there to help her out since she just lost Jiraiya."

Lightly smiling, the male hanyou quietly said "That sounds like Ryo. He probably couldn't bear to see her stay behind with Jiraiya's body alone and wanted to help her out."

"I thought the same thing." the neko agreed. "Anyways, we soon left them and set up camp a few hours later after I took care of something that I said I would do for you."

Frowning, the male hanyou began to ask, but a flash of memory filled his mind of when he had found the neko after her battle. Realizing what she meant, he nodded mutely.

Taking it as a sign to continue, the neko casually said "We set out for the Stronghold the next day, with me transforming into my true neko form and flying us half of the day."

"You managed to do it?" Iya asked curiously.

Applying a small smile to her face, Lilly quietly replied "With a bit of help from Kimi."

Reaching over and grasping her hand gently, the male hanyou affectionately said "I'm proud of you for learning how to do it."

"It's difficult still." the neko grumbled. "I can only stay in that form for about six hours. If I really try hard, I can stretch it out a little farther, but I'd say seven is my limit for now."

Slightly smiling, the dog hanyou calmly remarked "In time you'll learn how to stretch that time out farther, if you desire to. When I began, I could barely hold it for six hours. Now I can remain in my true dog form for about a day, if not a little more. But it wears me out."

"Me too." the neko hanyou admitted. "At any rate, I carried the others on my back half the day and then reverted back to this form. Once I'd rest a little, we continue on, with Kirara carrying Rin and Kohaku while Orihime and I ran. A combo of that got us here in two and half days."

"That's quite a feat for someone who has barely learned to use her true form." Iya declared with pride in his voice. "You did well."

Blushing slightly at his praise, Lilly quietly replied "It was nothing. I just wanted to get here and be with you. I know Orihime kept telling me you'd be fine, but I was still worried."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." the dog hanyou commented. Mulling over his thoughts for a moment, he added "When I left you to fight Kaia, I was worried she might be too much for you to take on. I had to fight myself the entire way back to the others to keep from going back to you and making sure you were alright. But I forced myself to keep moving, and I remember that I told myself that you were my mate, and that if you said you could do something, I should believe in you."

Looking into the emerald eyes of his mate, the male hanyou warmly said "Lilly, I'm sorry I worried you."

Gazing back into the muddy brown eyes of her mate, the neko whispered "I knew that you'd be alright, but it just scared me. I had never seen you look as bad as you did when I found you on the battlefield."

Softly chuckling, the male hanyou replied "It's probably for the best that you never saw me after my other fights with the other mages. All of them did inflict a good bit of damage on me, but not as bad as Byakuya did."

"I guess so." the neko quietly remarked.

Deciding to change the subject, the male hanyou asked "Now then, how is Ichigo?"

Biting her lower lip, the neko's brow furrowed as she mumbled "He's been better."

"What's the matter with him? Don't tell me he doesn't like the fact that I beat Byakuya." Iya jokingly commented.

Shaking her head, the neko quietly said "No, it's not that. He was happy to hear you beat Byakuya Kuchiki, but he's in a horrible mood."

"Horrible mood?" Iya questioned with a cocked eyebrow. "What over?"

"I'm not sure. He won't talk about it. He's been in bed since he arrived, but he was conscious apparently when he was treated. Ever since, he's been in a sour mood. Even seeing Orihime didn't seem to help him any." Lilly explained.

Frowning, the male hanyou asked "Why is he still in bed?"

"His wounds were bad enough that the healers were worried that if he got up, he may reopen the wounds. They wanted him to rest for at least a week before he leaves his room." the neko remarked.

Allowing the words of the neko to sink in, the male hanyou sighed slightly, saying "When I'm well enough to leave my room, I want to go see him."

Nodding mutely, the neko replied "Of course. But you need a few more days rest before you can do anything."

"Yeah, I guess…" Iya murmured. "There is someplace I need to visit once I'm well enough to move about."

Looking at her mate with a curious look, the neko softly asked "Where is that?"

Shutting his eyes for a moment, the male hanyou quietly said "Actually, there are a few places I should visit. All of them have been neglected in my absence."

"Okay Iya, but can you tell me where they are, and what you intend to do?" Lilly questioned.

Feeling his body calling him back into the darkness of sleep once again, he whispered "I'll tell you in due time."

"Iya, tell me." the neko grumbled.

Not receiving an answer, the neko looked closely at her mate, discovering that he had slipped back into an unconscious state. His breathing was even, with his face seemingly peaceful once more.

With a heavy sigh, the female hanyou stood and muttered "Figures you'd go to sleep on me when I want to know what you're talking about."

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Hearing a rapping on his door, the quarter bobcat groaned. He was already facing the wall so that he could not see those that came into his room.

With irritation ringing in his voice, he grumbled "Go away."

Ignoring his command, his visitor opened the door and walked in while closing the door quietly behind them. Hearing his visitor walking slowly and seemingly at much slower steps than a normal person, the quarter demon began to look to see who it was, but decided against it.

"Ignoring me won't make me leave, Ichigo."

Turning over to look at his visitor, the quarter demon saw his partner, the black haired dog hanyou, was standing before his bed. Sitting up and giving a bland look at the hanyou, Ichigo asked "What do you want, Iya?"

"Well, well, that's not quite the reception I expected after not seeing you for over a week." Iya commented.

"If you want a warm reception, then go talk to somebody else. Otherwise, get out. I'm not in the mood to see anyone."

Brow furrowing, the hanyou asked "What's wrong with you? I heard you don't want to see anyone, including a certain bobcat mage. That's not like you at all."

Not receiving an answer, the dog hanyou sighed and grabbed the nearby chair. Pulling it up to the side of the bed, the hanyou sat down and leaned back into it. Seeing this, the quarter bobcat heavily sighed.

"You're not leaving till I talk, are you?"

Earning him a nod from the hanyou, the quarter demon grunted out "You never could let well enough be."

"I not one to let well enough be." the hanyou countered. "Now, tell me what's going on, or we'll sit like this for a very long time, and trust me, you won't want that. I'll stay here as long as it takes for you to talk."

Clenching the covers of his bed tightly, Ichigo slowly asked "If I talk to you, will you keep it to yourself and let me be?"

"Yes, provided you answer truthfully." Iya answered.

"Fair enough." the quarter demon remarked. Staring down at his hands, he quietly said "It's about the battle with Byakuya Kuchiki."

"What of it?" the hanyou asked. "From what I saw, you had caused quite a bit of damage to him before Lilly and I arrived."

Still tightly holding onto his covers, the quarter demon faintly whispered "It wasn't me."

Confused at the statement, the dog hanyou began to ask, only to hear the quarter demon softly say "When I first released my Bankai, I was capable of outrunning and countering the mage with ease. He couldn't lay a finger on me, and his own Bankai couldn't catch me either. I was far too fast for him to ensnare, and when he did corner me, the power of my Bankai enabled me to counter his own. Needless to say, I was doing far better than I thought I could."

"Then he used his Senkei attack. It placed us within a dome, where his swords surrounded us and kept both of us from escaping the battle. I was still a touch faster than him, but the longer the battle dragged out, things seemed to change."

"Change?" Iya asked out of confusion.

Mutely nodding, Ichigo replied "Yeah, he seemed to be getting faster. We were each nicking one another at first, leaving small gashes when our blades would clash and then we'd pull away. But then I began receiving more and more of the nicks. Before I knew it, he was hardly getting any at all."

"I was growing tired, but I knew I had enough strength to keep going. To me, he seemed to be getting faster, but in my mind, I knew I could move faster still yet. Then he began moving at a speed in which I only caught glimpses seemingly of him. I could sense where he appeared, but only had a second to react."

Gripping the covers tighter, the quarter demon quietly added "Then he finally asked why I was moving much slower. I just thought he was playing head games, but he wasn't. He took advantage of my overconfidence and jammed a sword into my foot, then blasted a hole through my right shoulder with a beam of lightning."

"When I pulled away, I suddenly couldn't move. It was as if I was frozen stiff. Byakuya then explained himself, saying that if he had to guess, I thought he had sped up, which as he said, wasn't the case. The truth of the matter was I had slowed for some reason, and that it was the end for me. He raised his sword and brought it down towards me and was ready to kill me."

Releasing his hold on the covers that he had in a death grip, the quarter demon raised his hands before his face, saying "I told myself I had to move, that if I died there it was all for nothing, and that I had to win."

"That's when it happened."

Frowning at the explanation, the hanyou asked "What happened?"

Lowering his hands, the quarter demon quietly replied "Something took control of me. I felt it flow in from Zangetsu's hilt. I don't know what it was, but it took complete control of my body and grabbed hold of Byakuya's sword. All I could do was watch as some kind of white mask formed over half of my face. It was like I was outside of my body, watching someone else control it."

"Whoever or whatever it was controlling me spoke out in an insanity filled voice and explained why I had gotten slower. It said that my Bankai's overwhelming demonic aura was crushing me, that my body was unable to survive the strain it was putting on me."

"It then proceeded to thrash Byakuya in battle. Whoever it was controlling me tore that mage apart, piece by arrogant piece. Pretty soon, it was all that mage could do to just stay away from me. That thing then got ready to finish the fight, but I decided I had had enough and attempted to regain control of my body. It fought to remain in control, but I overpowered it by releasing all of the power I had. I even borrowed some power from Zangetsu just to overwhelm it and force it out of control of my body. Upon regaining control, the mask on my face broke, but I had no time to recover, for Byakuya seized the moment and struck out at me and leaving me in the state you found me in."

Rolling around the explanation of the quarter demon in his mind, the hanyou softly asked "You say someone or something took control of you, but do you have any idea of what it was?"

Shaking his head, the quarter demon replied "No clue. Whatever it was sure was powerful, for it took all I had, plus help from Zangetsu, to break it's hold on my body."

"I don't quite understand." Iya commented. "You're just a simple quarter demon. There should be no way possible for you to lose complete control of your demonic blood. Even if you were lost in a blood haze, I don't think it would form some kind of white mask like you speak of."

Nodding mutely, the quarter demon remarked "I know. Until I figure out what's going on, I'm not sure what to do."

Silence enveloped the pair briefly till the hanyou broke it, saying "Even though you don't know what that thing is, you shouldn't push people away. Orihime is worried about you, Ichigo. She cares about you, so don't keep her away."

Folding his arms over his chest, the quarter demon replied "I can't be around her, Iya. If I lose control of myself again, who knows what that thing would do to her, or anyone else for that matter! Just look at the damage it done to Byakuya Kuchiki! Do you really want to find out what could happen if it came back and attack her!?"

"No…" Iya mumbled in agreement. "I understand you're afraid of this thing, but until you find out what it is, do you think it's best to push everyone away?"

Sighing slightly, Ichigo softly replied "Yes, I do. Until I can figure out what that thing is and how to prevent it from reappearing, I'm afraid to be around anyone. That's why once I heal up here, I'm leaving."

"Where will you go?"

Contemplating the words of his friend for a moment, the quarter demon slowly said "To see the man who gave me Zangetsu."

"Why go see Urahara? Do you think Zangetsu had something to do with this?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the quarter demon quietly responded with "I'm not sure. Like I said, I felt something flow out of Zangetsu into me when Byakuya was about to kill me, meaning one of two things possibly. One, Zangetsu was trying to lend me power and inadvertently caused me to transform into a full demon, or two, Zangetsu himself took over, but I don't think that's likely since whatever it was that was controlling me seemed insane while Zangetsu has always had a calm demeanor and never has lost control of himself."

"There could be a third answer possibly, one of which you haven't thought of." Iya casually pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." Ichigo remarked. "But till then, I want to stay away from everyone, just to make sure I don't accidentally hurt someone I care about."

Looking at the hanyou, the quarter demon asked "Do you understand what I mean?"

Memories of the day his heat had come upon him when searching out the mages washed up in the mind of the hanyou immediately, making him mutely nod. "I do."

"Good." the quarter demon confirmed. "I'm going to leave without Orihime, but I'll leave her a note, telling her not to come after me."

"Do you think that will work?"

Shaking his head, the quarter demon lightly sighed, saying "Not likely. She cares too much for me to let me leave alone. I only hope and pray she does though."

Clenching his hands into fists, he added "I care too much about her to let her come with me. As long as I don't know what happened, I can't trust myself around her, no matter how much I want to be with her."

"Ah, so you like her, or is it love?" Iya teasingly questioned.

Casting a glare at the hanyou, but with a light blush on his face, Ichigo grit out "Just shut up and let me be."

Standing, the hanyou coolly said "Very well, but if you need anything, or want to talk, don't hesitate to send for me. I can't go very far myself for now, at least according to Kiyomi. Still, there is something I must do soon, whether I have her permission to or not, I don't care."

Patting the quarter demon on the shoulder gently, the hanyou turned and began walking towards the door, only to stop at the front of it. Looking over his shoulder at his partner, the hanyou smiled, saying "Try not to shut Orihime out completely. She cares a lot about you, Ichigo. I'd hate to see her heart broken because she doesn't understand your intentions."

"She'll be fine. After all, she's a strong woman." the quarter demon remarked.

Returning his view to the door before him, the hanyou whispered in reply "I hope so."

With his words said, the hanyou opened the door before him and left the room, leaving the quarter demon to his own thoughts.

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Following the scent of her mate in a quick paced walk, the neko hanyou grumbled within her mind "_That damn idiot, he wasn't supposed to leave his bed for too long. I can understand him going and seeing Ichigo while I was gone, but to wander to the outside of the Stronghold, that's not acceptable in his condition!_"

Finding her mate's scent was growing stronger as she walked towards a wooden fenced in area, the neko mentally readied herself to yell at her mate over ignoring the healer's orders. Pushing open a heavy door, the neko hanyou walked in, only to find she was now in a graveyard.

Confused, the neko sniffed the air and scanned the area. She quickly found her beloved dog hanyou kneeling before a grave, with incense burning. Guilt immediately washed over her at the thought of being angry with him. Quietly, she walked towards him, being mindful to stay on the pathway that had been created for visitors.

Sitting down next to her mate softly, the female hanyou noted that there was a single red rose laid before the tombstone that her mate was sitting before. Reading the tombstone's inscription silently to herself, she saw that the marker belonged to the dog hanyou's mother.

Opening his eyes and glancing over at his mate, the dog hanyou softly said "I'm sorry I worried you. I know you told me not to overexert myself, but I felt I needed to come here."

"It's alright. I should have known you wouldn't go far without a reason." Lilly softly remarked in an apologetic tone.

Nodding lightly, Iya sadly smiled, saying "No matter how often I come here or view her painting, I can't help but think about her. She was the one person I deeply desired to meet, to know, and to just see in person."

Feeling a twinge of guilt course through her mind, the neko began to say something, only to be cut off by her mate, who said "Then I met with her while I was sleeping a few days ago."

"She came to you while you slept!?" Lilly questioned with a touch of shock.

Replying with a nod, the male hanyou softly said "She came to me while I slept. Just meeting her was so amazing. She was far more than I ever expected. My mother had a calmness and loving nature that I knew nothing about. I enjoyed being with her, just learning anything about her that I could."

Allowing a small smirk to form on his face, the male hanyou added "And she told me that the two of you met also."

Looking away with a bit of guilt on her face, the neko felt the dog hanyou reached over and cup her cheek. Turning back towards him, she saw no anger in his eyes, only love. "I'm not mad about the two of you meeting and you not telling me about it. If I had to guess, you didn't tell me because you were just trying to protect me."

"I just didn't tell you because I was afraid it would hurt your feelings that your mother talked with me and not you." Lilly murmured lowly while relaxing into her mate's touch.

Lightly smiling, Iya replied "I understand, and again, I'm not mad. I figured you had your reasons, so don't worry about it."

Releasing his hand from her face, the male hanyou stood, though cringed lightly from it. Quick to her own feet, the neko reached out to him, allowing him to steady himself. Helping him stand up straight, she softly said "Iya, I think you should return to your room now. You've pushed yourself a bit too hard today."

"I suppose you're right." the male hanyou mumbled. "Let's go then."

Nodding in reply, the pair walked hand in hand away from the graveyard and back towards the main building of the Stronghold.

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Panting lightly while staring at the silver haired dog demon, the neko hanyou couldn't help but feel she was wasting her time. The two had been training since her arrival nine days ago due to the demon lord's special interest in her due that she was the mate of the demon lord's brother. Since her mate had woken up, she had been mostly sparring with the demon lord, only to find out why he was one of the most feared demon lords of the Four Lands.

"_He has not held back with me once during our fights. It's all I can do just to keep up with him and keep myself from being hurt._" the hanyou grumbled within her mind.

Without warning, the demon lord suddenly vanished, forcing the neko to begin scanning for the dog demon. She didn't have long to find him, she knew that much. In a flash, she picked up movement to her right side. Swinging around, she barely managed to parry the attack of the demon lord. Trembling from the force she was placing on the sword, she caught a glance at the dog demon's eyes. Looking into them, she found no emotions, as if he was void of them.

"_Figures that he'd not allow his emotions to be seen still yet._" the neko mentally grumbled.

Forcing themselves apart, the two came to a skidding stop with fifteen feet between them. Both examined the other for weaknesses in their defenses, but the neko was unable to find anything wrong with the dog demon.

Charging forward with her sword before herself, the neko was about halfway across the dojo when she suddenly felt the release of a massive demonic aura. The sound of a loud roar soon followed, causing the dog demon to turn his attention to the sound.

Both raced to the doorway of the dojo, just in time to see the form of a large black dog race off into the sky. Eyes widening at the sight, the neko ran into the courtyard, with the dog demon following her closely.

"Iya, what are you doing!? You shouldn't be out of bed, let alone in that form! Transform back and come down here!" Lilly demanded loudly.

Ignoring his mate's demand, the large black dog began gaining altitude and placing distance between himself and the fortress. Seeing this, the neko turned to the dog demon, who watched with no emotion.

Frowning, the neko heatedly asked "Aren't you going to stop him!?"

Casting his golden eyes onto the neko hanyou, the dog demon stoically replied "This Sesshomaru will not stop him. If he wishes to leave, it is his business."

"He has not fully recovered yet!" Lilly argued.

Turning away with his clothing swishing in the wind, Sesshomaru coolly remarked "This Sesshomaru has spoken. Do as you wish."

With that, the dog demon walked away, leaving an angered neko hanyou behind. Growling lowly, she grit out "Fine, I'll just have to go after him then since NO ONE around here is willing to help me."

Feeling something land on her shoulder, the neko glanced over to see it was the small blonde and black colored neko. Lightly smiling at her and petting her head, the hanyou was rewarded with a happy mew from the small neko. Quietly, the hanyou softly said "Kirara, I need to go after Iya. Will you go with me? Once we catch up with him and get him back, I promise I'll get you home, ok?"

Receiving a small mew of acceptance, the neko hanyou nodded and closed her eyes. Slowly reopening them, the hanyou revealed red corneas and yellow slit irises. A demonic wind instantly kicked up around her body while a thick smoke formed around her body. With a loud roar, a large black neko shot out of the smoke and into the air with her fire covered paws and tip of her tail blazing brightly with the smaller neko on her back.

In the air, the neko spotted the large black dog's fading form and quickly gave chase. She didn't gain any distance on him, but was able to keep pace.

"_Iya, I don't know what's come over you, but I won't let you get away. No matter what, I won't allow you to cause harm to yourself._"

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Feeling her body tiring from flying non-stop for the last six hours after her mate, the large neko let out a light growl as she felt herself starting to slightly descend. Fighting to keep flying onwards, the neko growled and forced herself to regain some altitude.

Keeping her eyes trained on the figure ahead of herself, the neko hardened her gaze and forced her body to speed up. She could feel the strain of her muscles refusing to do so, but she overruled them and sped up so that the large dog before her seemed to grow closer. In an attempt to get her mate to stop, the large neko released a mighty roar, only to be ignored.

Infuriated by the fact her mate didn't respond, the neko attempted to increase her speed, only to find her body refused. Realizing she was nearly out of energy, the neko began her descent towards the ground in a slow downwards movement. Finding a clearing where she could land, the large neko began angling towards the clearing. A few moments passed and she gracefully touched down into the large area.

Upon landing, the smaller neko leapt off of the back of the large black neko to the ground and sparked her own transformation into her larger form with fire surrounding her body. The flames quickly died down while the blonde and black neko stared at the larger black neko.

A moment passed and the large neko's body began to glow with a blinding white demonic aura. The light soon died down, revealing the hanyou in her humanoid form once more. Panting lightly, she walked over to the waiting blonde and black colored neko. With a slight groan, she mounted the back of the neko and patted the neko's shoulder.

"I'm on, Kirara." she murmured with heavily hooded eyes.

Nodding, the black and blonde colored neko took to the sky and found the scent of the large dog demon easily. Giving off a soft growl, the neko began tracking the scent while the hanyou on her back slowly slid into a light slumber.

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Glancing behind himself, the large black dog growled with light irritation when he noted the smaller fire cat that had been riding on his mate's back was now following him, and carrying his mate on her back no less.

"_Damn, Lilly is so stubborn and persistent._" the large dog grumbled within his mind. Slyly smiling mentally, he mused "_I guess those are some of the qualities that draw me to her._"

Returning his vision ahead, the large black dog sped up, increasing his distance from himself to the small neko even more. Knowing they would be able to keep sight of him till at least dark, the large dog continued to push himself, hoping that the pair would tire out before nightfall.

"_I don't know if Lilly will try to keep following me once the darkness hits, but if she does, I'll just have to keep flying. Still, I'll need a break in a while. I don't think I can make it without stopping at least once. I'll just have to do what I can to keep going till then._"

With a light growl, the large black dog pushed onwards in the opposite direction of the setting sun.

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Moaning lightly while slowly cracking her eyes open, the neko hanyou yawned sleepily and carefully sat up. Glancing around, she noted that the sun had gone down, with a crescent moon and numerous stars filling the sky.

Scanning the sky before her, the hanyou attempted to find her mate's form, only to find that he had seemingly vanished into the nighttime sky. Releasing a small sigh, the hanyou laid her head back down onto the back of the blonde and black colored neko. Receiving a small growl from the neko, the hanyou sadly smiled and patted the large neko's head.

"It's alright Kirara that you couldn't keep up. I didn't think you could. After all, you fought hard just to keep up with me when I was running on our last trip."

Receiving what sounded like an apologetic mew, the hanyou rubbed the head of the large neko, saying "You did your best, and for that, I can't fault you."

Earning a small growl of acceptance, the large neko continued pushing onwards through the nighttime sky. Riding silently, the hanyou glanced at the sky and attempted to judge her position. It didn't take her long to figure out where her mate was headed.

"I should have known…" she mumbled.

Noting the neko had been running for what seemed like hours on end and was beginning to slow a bit, the hanyou softly said "Kirara, why don't you take us down. We'll rest up for a few hours and I'll hunt us something to eat."

Nodding, the neko began it's descent from the darkened sky towards the ground. Finding a nearby stream, the large neko touched down next to it. The hanyou slid off of the neko's back, allowing the large neko to revert to it's smaller kitten form. Scooping her up, and placing the small neko onto her shoulder, the hanyou smiled and patted the neko's head.

"You did good, Kirara."

Receiving a mew of appreciation in return, the hanyou walked along the bank of the stream till finally she came to a level spot. Setting the smaller neko on a felled log, the hanyou left for a short time, only to return soon with a few fish. Upon cleaning them, she started a small fire and placed the fish on sticks, allowing them to roast. The fish were soon done, with the pair eating.

Finishing up and throwing the bones into the smoldering fire, the hanyou put it out and leapt into a nearby tree with the neko cradled in her arms. Laying the sleeping neko down in her lap, the hanyou leaned back against the tree's trunk and allowed a light sleep to overcome her.

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Finding there was still no one behind himself, at least within range of his nose or sight, the large black dog released a small sigh, but continued to push onwards towards his destination. His body was already showing signs of fatigue setting in, but he pushed on.

"_I've have to keep going for a while longer. I don't want Lilly to overtake me. I know I left the Stronghold a little after midday. It's now early in the morning, meaning I've traveled for nearly half a day. I guess I should rest soon for a few hours and then continue. I won't arrive till tomorrow morning anyways. Besides, Lilly won't catch up for a while since she can only fly for six hours or so, plus Kirara isn't able to keep up with me either and takes a bit longer to fly the same distance I can._"

Flying for another few hours, the large black dog finally began to succumb to the needs of his body. Finding a spot to land, the black dog began his descent, but quickly realized he was coming in too fast. Slowing his speed, the dog finally touched down onto the ground with a skidding stop. Panting lightly, the large dog dropped the clothing he had been carrying within his mouth to the ground and quietly padded over to the nearby stream. With his elongated tongue, he lapped up water into his mouth, allowing water to splash his muzzle occasionally.

At last feeling his thirst sated, the large dog padded over to where the pile of clothes lay. Honing his senses in on any enemy that may be close by, the large dog found no threats near him, allowing him to relax. He glowed for a moment before transforming back into his nude humanoid form. Quickly dressing, the hanyou found a nearby tree and leapt into it.

Allowing his breathing to become steadier, the dog hanyou's eyes slid shut while his senses remained ever alert.

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Landing onto the ground in the early morning dew, the large black dog set his clothing down and sniffed the air for any danger. Finding none, he reverted to his humanoid form and quickly dressed.

Walking into a large field of flowers that he had landed outside of, the hanyou sniffed the air, finding the sweet scent of the flowers filled the air, along with the scent of the morning dew. Picking a handful of flowers, he quietly walked onwards towards his destination.

"_I flew about all day yesterday. I'm surprised I made it in just under two days to this place. It's not something I expected to do, to say the least._" Iya mused.

Taking his time with a slow stride, the hanyou examined the land, finding the signs of his previous visit. The scents of the past were gone, but he could still remember them, along with the sounds he had heard.

An image of his partner laying on the ground, nearly dead, with a deep wound that cut down to his spine rose up in his mind. Shaking his head and sighing, the hanyou muttered "_Ichigo was so lucky Byakuya didn't kill him in one swing. Perhaps Kami watches out for that idiot more than I ever realized._"

Reaching a large clearing, the dog hanyou came to a stop. Sniffing the air, he found the scent he was looking for and quietly walked towards it. His hair swayed with his movements, irritating him slightly.

"_I wish I hadn't lost my ribbon in my battle with Byakuya. I've had it for so long, it had become like a part of me that I wouldn't dare part from. Besides, it always reminded me of the good times from so long ago in my youth._"

Releasing a small sigh, the hanyou continued on in the direction of the scent he had found. He quietly walked into the wooded area that surrounded the large clearing, with memories of the last time he had been here flaring up in his mind. The sounds of battle, with weapons clashing and sparks flying from the contact, along with overwhelming and sickening scent of blood and death, filled the dog hanyou's mind.

"_I'm finally free from that life, I hope._" he mentally murmured. "_I don't want to have to fight forever. Now that The Thirteen are defeated, I can only hope that we never have to fight again, but I doubt that'll happen. Peace won't last forever, but I wish it would._"

At long last reaching an area he had been to only a little over a week ago, the hanyou tracked the scent he had caught and continued moving onwards towards it. Finding the source of the scent he had been tracking, he sadly smiled at a stone headstone.

Kneeling before the grave, the dog hanyou placed the fresh picked flowers before it and moved so that he was sitting on his knees. Staring at the carved name, he couldn't help but feel tears threatening to fall.

Resting a hand on the stone, Iya lowly whispered "Kaia, I'm so sorry."

"I know no matter what I would have said or did while you were living could have made a difference. What I did two-hundred-eight-five years ago to you can never be forgiven."

Pausing for a moment, the hanyou's ears twitched. Hearing the sound of someone nearby, he ignored it due that he recognized the scent of raspberries immediately. "When I awoke the next morning after raping you while in my demon heat, I ran away like a coward. I had hoped to just keep running, to never have to look back at what I had done to you. Looking back now, I realize I was wrong to run from you. I should have stayed there."

"I foolishly tried to take the coward's way out by contemplating suicide. When I tried to do so, I stopped, for I realized I was afraid to die. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. My father soon caught up with me and I begged him to do the deed, for I thought I had no reason to live any longer."

Sadly smiling, the hanyou continued on, saying "But instead of killing me, he gave me a reason to continue living. He charged me with protecting others. If not for that, I would have never become what I have since then."

"When I received Ketsaiga, I made a vow to myself that I would protect all those that were precious to me and those that could not protect themselves. I swore I would not waver or fear death if it meant that those that I protected would survive. That vow is what has made me continue onwards, with the hope that one day I may not have to look back and be constantly haunted by that night."

"Even though I have done so much good, I realize that one sin cannot be forgotten. I only pray that those I have helped look upon me as you once did, as someone who cared and wished to do the right thing."

Hearing approaching footsteps, the hanyou softly said "I pray that your soul has found peace within the underworld. I only hope Kami saw that you received leniency when judging your soul."

Standing up, the dog hanyou bowed slightly, whispering "I will never forget you, Kaia. The young woman I knew so long ago who was my best friend will forever remain in my memories. Just know that you were important to me, and that I can never forget. Thank you for all that you did then, and I pray you rest in peace."

Feeling a pair of warm arms encircle his waist, the dog hanyou slightly smiled when he felt the face of his mate press against his back. Breaking free from her embrace, the hanyou turned to look the neko hanyou in the face. A few tears trailed down her cheeks while her eyes were glassy looking. Using his finger to wipe away the tears, the male hanyou softly smiled and embraced the neko hanyou in a warm hug.

"I'm sorry I worried you." Iya mumbled.

Pulling back, Lilly quietly replied "Once I figured out where you were headed, I was less worried. I understand why you came back here. It was to say goodbye to her, wasn't it?"

Receiving a mute nod, the neko hanyou sadly smiled, saying "I think the Kaia you knew long ago would have appreciated it."

"So do I." the dog hanyou murmured.

Releasing his embrace, the male hanyou reached out for the hand of the neko hanyou, saying "I think it's time we go."

Answering with a nod, the neko hanyou turned away from the grave and walked towards the tree line hand in hand with her mate. The smaller neko leapt out of a nearby tree and onto the neko hanyou's shoulder, making the female hanyou smile slightly.

Stopping suddenly and pulling her hand free, the neko hanyou said "Oh yeah, I forgot, I have something for you."

"Something for me?" Iya asked while watching his mate dig into the inner fold of her kimono top. A moment later, she pulled out a worn purple ribbon, causing the male hanyou gasp in surprise.

Seeing the surprise on his face, the neko hanyou quietly said "I found it after I finished burying Kaia. I actually thought you were still here when I picked up it's scent, but when I found it, I realized that you must have lost it in battle."

Reaching out and taking the ribbon from his mate, the dog hanyou fingered it for a long moment while a small smile formed on his face. Carefully, he reached back and tied his hair into a ponytail with the ribbon.

Finishing, he warmly said "Lilly."

"Yes?"

"Know that my love for you is unshakable and will not fail."

Smiling, the neko hanyou replied "I know that, and know that my love for you will never falter."

Moving forward, the male hanyou gently placed a chaste kiss on his mate's lips. Pulling back, he softly said "I will always love you."

"And I will love you forever."

With their words said, the pair of hanyous and the small neko began trekking away from the gravesite towards the woods line, with the hanyous' hands linked together.


	69. Chapter 68: Farewell, for now

**Hello again everyone! This past week, not much happened in my life. I had my sinus infection finally pass Sunday, thankfully. Today, I'm feeling pretty much 100% again, thankfully. I felt like crap till Sunday morning, and by the end of the day, I felt a whole lot better. Let's see, other than that, I spent yesterday evening hanging out with my step brother, which was pretty fun. I had forgotten how much fun it was to just talk and do stuff with him.**

**Writing wise, things have been great. I suppose I should let everyone in on my little secret about my future plans, seeing how this is the last chapter and all. Anyways, there is a sequel to be written, just so everyone knows. It will be called **_**Reunion**_**, and it is a shorter story than **_**Another**_** by far. This story is going to be a joint effort between my mate and myself, for she is the one that came up with the sequel's plot. We have a outline wrote out, with her making a quick chapter recently, but it needs refined since she wrote it out prior to us making the outline. My estimates of number of chapters on **_**Reunion **_**is it will be most likely only 10 chapters, maybe 15 at most. It is going to be a shorter story to be honest, but with longer chapters. Originally, it began as a one-shot idea that expanded into multiple chapters eventually, so in the end, we decided to call it a sequel. At any rate, I'm expecting to start posting chapters probably in April, maybe May at latest. I hope to have something out as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll probably try and finish up **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** and move on from there. I have toyed with the idea of doing a Naruto fic also at the same time as **_**Reunion**_**, due that I have a pretty good story line planned out, but I think I may not do that. I'll just have to see. It took a lot just to keep up with **_**Another**_** and **_**MtM**_**, and neither really were kept up properly. We'll just see I suppose.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**kattana: Lol, yes, Iya should learn to communicate better with Lilly. He seems to not tell her about certain things at times. Anyways, thanks for the review!**

**mcsnellies: You were actually right originally when you said she was going to bury Kaia, lol. But she did do something extra, in the form of retrieving his ribbon. Lol, sorry for not mentioning you keeping me awake while waiting up to go get my mate, but it happens. At least I wasn't in a Nyquil induced haze like I have been the last few times I've talked with you, hehe. I had wondered where you went to after a while, lol. Anyways, thanks for the review!**

**Thank you both for your reviews. I really appreciate both of them. I thank all of you who have supported this fic. It was my first full length Inuyasha fic, and I think in the end, it turned out rather nice. The reviews weren't as high as I expected, but I can live with that. I'm surprised by the number of favorites I did get added to, plus the number of alerts. Both outranked my previous stories, which is nice to see. But at any rate, I thank all of you for your kind words and adds to your favorites. I really enjoyed hearing from those of you that chose to review. I hope that I hear what everyone truly thinks about the story in the end, but if not, oh well.**

**Again, the sequel, **_**Reunion**_**, will be coming out in a month or so. I'll try and PM everyone who added this story to the favs and alerts so they will know that it is coming out. I only hope to see some of your familiar faces in it.**

**Thank you once more for all of your support, and I hope all of you have enjoyed this story as much as I have writing it. And with that, I give you my ado. Enjoy, and farewell!**

**Chapter 68**

Landing softly onto the ground, the large black dog with the neko hanyou and small blonde and black colored neko on his back, came to a stop, causing the hanyou and the smaller neko to slide off of the dog's back and onto the ground. Walking to the front of the large dog, the hanyou handed him a small pile of clothing, which the dog took hold of with his mouth.

Padding away, the large dog moved behind a few large trees before reverting back to his humanoid form. Dressing hurriedly, he walked out from behind the trees, earning him a thoughtful look from his mate.

"What?" Iya asked.

Smiling, Lilly shook her head, saying "I guess it's nothing. I was just thinking I need to teach you how to keep your clothing glued to your body."

Frowning, the dog hanyou asked "Wait, what do you mean teach me? As I remember, you can't do it either."

"Actually, I can now." the neko answered with a small smirk playing on her face. "While you were unconscious, Sesshomaru trained me. Over a few days time, he taught me to keep my clothing glued to my body when I transformed into my true neko form. He also sparred with me, allowing me to become stronger."

A bit shocked by the response of his mate, the dog hanyou moved closer to his mate and placed both hands on her shoulders and allowed a smile to grace his face. With pride in his voice, he warmly said "Well done. It looks like you have learned something that I've yet to in all my years of knowing how to transform. If you would, could you teach me?"

Returning the smile, the neko nodded and replied "I would be happy to."

Noting the sun was setting, the neko added "Once we've set up camp and had dinner, we'll begin."

Receiving a nod in reply, the neko turned from the dog hanyou and proceeded to begin gathering up firewood. Silently, he turned and left the small camp. Seeing this, the small neko stretched out onto a rock that sat in the sinking sun and yawned sleepily before falling asleep.

Not even thirty minutes had passed before the male hanyou returned with two rabbits, one in each hand. Seeing his mate had started the fire, the dog hanyou took the two rabbits a ways away from the camp and quickly skinned them. Finishing up, he returned to the camp area with the two rabbits on sticks. Placing them close to the fire, he turned and left once more, this time going to the nearby stream to wash up. He wasn't gone long and soon returned to find his mate sitting on a log that she had drug into camp and had the smaller neko sitting on her lap, with it lightly purring while the hanyou petted her.

"I bet Kirara misses Sango." Lilly softly murmured while staring down at the small neko. "She's been gone from her for over a week."

"Probably so, but she'll see her soon." Iya remarked while taking a seat next to his mate. "After all, it'll only take the three of us another day or two to reach the village where they are living."

Nodding, the neko hanyou glanced up at the darkening sky, murmuring "I wonder how everyone is doing."

"Probably adjusting to life once more." the dog hanyou commented. "After all, they went from human to hanyou and then back to being human again. I'm sure it confused most of them."

Mutely nodding, the neko hanyou released a small sigh, saying "I wonder why I remained hanyou while the others returned to their human forms."

Pondering the words of the neko for a moment, the dog hanyou finally shrugged his shoulders and quietly replied "I guess because you were so far away fighting with Kaia. You were out of range for his spell, or at the least I'm guessing that's the case."

"I guess…" the female hanyou murmured. "Still, I have to wonder, the others, they all mated, with exception of Kohaku and Rin, so what will become of them? Are they still connected like we are?"

Rolling the words of his mate around in his mind for a few moments, the male hanyou softly responded with "I really don't know. I would have to guess due that they mated and marked each other as lifetime mates, they are still connected to one another."

Standing and checking the meat, the male hanyou returned to his seat after a moment and quietly said "I do know one thing for sure. Even though they are no longer hanyous, the love that those four built with their mates will last them a lifetime. That much is for certain."

"Yeah…" the neko hanyou warmly mumbled.

Pulling the cooked meat away from the fire and handing one of the sticks to his mate, the male hanyou smiled, saying "Better eat up. We'll need all the strength we can get to make it to that village in the next day or so."

"Right." the neko replied before biting into her dinner.

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Seeing the village they desired to reach on the horizon, the large black neko let out a joyful growl, making the dog hanyou on her back smile softly. The smaller neko on his shoulder let out a similar happy mew, causing the hanyou to reach up and gently stroke her head.

Landing on the outskirts of the village, at the large tree with the dry well nearby, the large black neko gracefully came to a stop and knelt down to let her passengers off, only to feel her mate leap off before she was to the ground. Letting out an annoyed growl, the large neko glowed with a white light before returning to her humanoid form.

"You could have waited." Lilly admonished with a cross tone.

Shrugging, Iya simply replied "I'm a hanyou, I can leap from that high and not take any damage when landing. It's not a big deal."

Sighing, the neko muttered "I guess."

Sniffing the air, the male hanyou found the scent of his half brother and his mate was constantly within the area. "I guess Inuyasha and Kagome come here quite often."

"Yeah, their scents are all over the place." the neko commented. "They must be at the village right now."

Nodding, the male hanyou took the lead, with his mate falling in beside of him. Reaching out, he grasped her hand gently and laced their fingers together. The neko smiled sweetly at him and pulled herself a bit closer to his body.

The walk to the village was a short one, with many humans seeing the pair and warily keeping an eye on them. Ignoring them, the dog hanyou pushed onwards towards the familiar hut of the priestess that was the village leader.

With only a short distance to the hut, the black haired dog hanyou spotted the flap to the hut opening, revealing his silver haired half brother. Noting the usual scowl on his brother's face, the black haired hanyou couldn't help but suppress the urge to laugh. The pair of hanyous approached his brother, who was shortly joined by his human mate and the small fox kit, which rode on her shoulder.

Moving forward, the black haired miko, dressed in a traditional miko's uniform, with a white kimono top and red pants, smiled and embraced the neko hanyou, who returned the smile. Separating, the miko moved to the black haired dog hanyou and embraced him as well, earning him a glare from his half brother.

Pulling away, Kagome warmly said "Welcome back you two."

"Thank you, Kagome." Lilly replied while still smiling.

Nodding in reply, Iya calmly said "It's nice to see the two of you are well, and you too Shippou."

"Feh, why wouldn't we be?" Inuyasha grunted out, earning him an elbow to the ribs from his mate.

"Inuyasha, be nice. I know you're happy that your brother is alright."

Crossing his arms and looking away, the silver haired hanyou muttered "Keh."

Shaking her head, the miko returned her vision to the pair of mates before her and spotted the small neko perched on the female hanyou's shoulder. Reaching out, she gently scratched the head of the small neko, earning her a small mew. Chuckling, she quietly said "It's nice to see you again too Kirara."

Earning another mew from the small neko, the miko smiled, saying "I bet Sango will be happy when you return. Shippou?"

"Yeah Kagome?" the small fox kit asked.

"Can you show Kirara where Miroku and Sango's hut is? I'm sure she'd like to return to her master." Kagome remarked.

Nodding, the small fox leapt from the miko's shoulder and landed on the ground. Pressing his right hand to his chest, he boldly replied "You can count on me! Come on Kirara."

Mewing one more time, the small neko leapt from the neko hanyou's shoulder to the ground, causing the small fox kit to scamper off with the neko following him.

With the two small demons gone, the miko shuffled her feet slightly before speaking up and slowly asking "Lilly, would you care to join me for a bath in the hot springs?"

"Sure, I'd enjoy a good warm bath. Since we left the Western Stronghold, I've had nothing but cold water baths." the neko hanyou responded.

Nodding, the miko replied "Just give me a moment to grab my bathing stuff."

Receiving a mute nod of response, the miko turned around and ran into the hut behind her. She soon returned carrying a small bag, a bow with a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, and had her sword tucked into her obi.

"Alright, let's go!"

Returning the smile of the miko, the neko hanyou turned and pecked her mate on the cheek, saying "I'll be back in a while. Be good."

Rolling his eyes, the black haired hanyou replied "You too."

Smiling, the neko and the miko began walking away, leaving the two male hanyous behind. "So, Inuyasha, shall we go somewhere to talk?"

"Whatever."

Sighing slightly, the black haired hanyou saw his brother turn and begin walking in the direction that the pair of hanyous had originally come from. Following without a word, the pair left the village.

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Sinking into the hot steamy water, both the hanyou and miko let out elicit sighs of relief. The pair sank into the water up to their shoulders, allowing it to cover them completely.

Dunking her head under, the miko came up and smiled at the neko, saying "I usually come out here with Sango, but I figure she's getting reacquainted with Kirara."

"Yeah, I do too." the neko replied. "It feels so good to finally soak within a hot spring. We hadn't found one on the few nights we flew here, so cold water was beginning to get to me a bit."

Smiling and nodding, the miko's features became more solemn as she reached up and took hold of the necklace that was around her neck. A single pink jewel hung from it, seemingly glittering in the fading sunlight.

Noting that the miko was playing with the jewel, the neko asked "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"I can tell something is bothering you." Lilly stated. "Just the way you're clutching your necklace tells me that you're tense about something. Is something wrong?"

Allowing a small sigh to escape her mouth, the miko glanced up at the fading sunlight, murmuring softly "It's just… now that I'm finally able to return to what used to be a normal life, I have to decide on what to do with the Sacred Jewel. Before all this mess began, I gave it to Inuyasha to make a wish."

Pausing for a moment, she slowly added "For the longest time since I met him, he wanted to become a full fledged demon. It was his deepest desire to enter into a world that would accept him based on his strength."

"But over time, he let go of that dream. I think him losing control of himself when he broke Tetsusaiga and entering into his full demon form changed his mind. He would become a berserker, not knowing who was friend or foe. One time he accidently even hurt me by holding onto me and digging his claws into my arms. It hurt, but I managed to get him to return to me the way he was."

Lightly smiling, the miko mumbled "To be honest, I even told him that I liked him better as a half demon. And during that time he was hurting me, I told him I loved him as a half demon, which is what broke him out of his berserker form."

"When we finally put the Sacred Jewel back together, I remembered the promise I made him so long ago when I broke the Jewel. I promised him I'd give him the Jewel for his help in retrieving it's pieces. He kept his word, and when Naraku was destroyed and I had purified the Jewel at long last, I realized it was time I kept my word. To be honest, I was hesitant to."

"Why?" Lilly asked with a look of confusion.

Sighing slightly, Kagome quietly replied "I was afraid that he still wanted to become a full demon, and that once he did, he wouldn't remember any of us and that he'd just attack and kill anything that got in his way. That fear is a lot of why I didn't want to give him the Jewel, plus the thought of knowing I would have lost him forever. I've always had feelings for him for such a long time, but he never returned them to me."

"But then after Iya and you arrived, Inuyasha asked to speak with me. We talked, with him returning the Jewel to me, saying that he didn't want to become a full demon anymore due that he would lose everything and everyone he cared about. Looking back now, I could see how he wished to say more, and if I had to guess, it was that he didn't want to lose me either."

Finishing her story, the miko sat quietly before finally speaking up, asking "Lilly, do you want to become human again?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" the neko asked with uncertainty.

Giving a feigned smile, the miko replied "What I mean is do you wish to become human once more? You know, to live your life out as a human, rather than a hanyou?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the neko hanyou slowly answered, saying "I've thought about it, but not too much recently. When I first became a hanyou, I wanted so desperately to become human again. I was terrified of what I had become. But now, I really don't mind being a hanyou, though it is a bit annoying when going around humans who are afraid of demons."

Staring at her reflection in the water, the neko added "The only reason I would want to become human would be so I could do one thing, which is to go home and see my parents, but I can never do that, not as long as I'm a hanyou."

"Why not?" the miko softly questioned.

Releasing a small sigh and feeling tears starting to usher to her eyes, the neko pushed them back and quietly said "When I became a hanyou, I tried to return home. I had run away from Iya because I was afraid. So, I did the only thing I knew to do, which was run home. When I got there and went to my parents' home, they, along with the village, attacked me. My mother and father didn't recognize me, saying I was a demon who killed their daughter and stole her clothing and was attempting to go around masquerading as her."

"Their words hurt me so much, and I tried to tell them it was really me, but neither would listen and the villagers began to move in on me. If not for Iya, my own father would have killed me in cold blood."

"I'm so sorry to hear that…" Kagome sympathetically whispered.

Nodding weakly, the neko felt a comforting hand land on her shoulder. Looking into the priestess's chocolate eyes, she found sincerity in her words. Reaching up and undoing the clasp on her necklace, the reached out with her other hand to the neko and placed the pink jewel into the empty hand of the hanyou.

"Lilly, I want you to think about what we talked about. If you want to become human, you can use the Jewel for that wish. I want you to just think about it first though, and if you really do, you can use the wish. I'm going to go home for a few days, so hold onto it till I return, alright?"

Mutely nodding to the miko, the neko weakly smiled, saying "Thank you, Kagome. I'll give it some thought."

"Good, now then, let's get on back before the boys begin to worry about us. Okay?"

"Yeah."

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Staring at the pink jewel within her clawed hand, the neko hanyou released a heavy sigh and looked up at the setting sun. "_What do I do? Kagome said I could become human once more, permanently. If I did, I could return home to see my family and let them know that I am alive._"

"_But then there is Iya... He is my mate, and the one man I love and have gifted my heart. Yet, I haven't even told him about Kagome giving me the Sacred Jewel._"

Sliding her emerald eyes shut, the neko leaned back against the tree she sat in and released another heavy sigh. Reopening her eyes to look down at the pink jewel within her hand once more, she couldn't help but feel torn.

"_I know my parents are worried sick. At the same time, I have a duty to stay by my mate's side forever. One way or another, I'll have to betray either my human side or my demon side, and that's just not fair to either._"

Feeling the branch she sat on bob slightly, the neko slowly opened her eyes to see her black haired mate staring at her with a small smile. "There you are, Lilly."

Feigning a smile at him, she quietly asked "Were you worried?"

"In the last day or so, you haven't been around much. I spent much of the day helping Miroku and Sango plan out how to secure the village's defenses in case of an attack. Ever since, I kind of wondered where you were till I finally decided to come looking for you." the male hanyou explained.

Weakly smiling, the neko replied "I just needed some time alone to think."

"To think about what?" the dog hanyou asked while taking a seat upon the branch.

Hesitantly, the neko released a small sigh and slowly opened her clawed hand to reveal the pink jewel within it, which caught the fading sunlight. Seeing it, the male hanyou looked at it inquisitively for a moment before asking "Why do you have the Sacred Jewel?"

"Kagome gave it to me to think about something while she was gone." the neko solemnly remarked. "She's coming back tomorrow with Inuyasha."

"Yes, but what did she leave it with you to think about?" Iya pressed.

Looking away, Lilly could feel the guilt of her heart weighing heavily and threatening to cause tears to fall. Pushing the tears back, she quietly replied "She gave it to me to think about a wish she mentioned to me about. She asked yesterday if I wanted to become human again."

"I see…" the male hanyou murmured.

Glancing back at her mate, the neko saw a touch of hurt and uncertainty reflecting in his muddy brown eyes. She began to say something, only to be stopped when he spoke up once again.

"Are you going to become human?"

Looking down at the jewel in her hand, she whispered "I don't know… I just honestly don't know what to do."

Feeling a clawed hand cup her cheek suddenly, the neko looked up slightly to see her mate looking at her with a warm smile. "Lilly, no matter what you decide, I will always love you as my mate."

Digesting her mate's words for a moment, the neko timidly asked "What do you think I should do?"

"It's not my decision to make, Lilly." Iya quietly responded. Reaching out and helping close her hand around the pink jewel, the dog hanyou added "I love you with all my heart and soul, no matter if you are human, hanyou, full demon, or anywhere in between. I want you to be happy. That alone is the one thing I want for you."

Before the neko could respond, her mate stood, saying "Lilly, I'm going to leave you to make this decision so I won't influence you one way or another on it. Please, choose carefully, but know that whatever you decide, I will accept whole heartedly."

At that, the male hanyou leapt from the branch to the ground and quietly walked away towards the nearby village. Staring at his retreating form, the neko closed her eyes and clenched her clawed hand around the jewel tighter.

"_I know the answer to that question now. Soon Iya, you will find it out also, along with the others._"

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Sitting on a branch in the ancient tree that over looked the close by dried up well, the dog hanyou softly sighed to himself. Ever since morning, when he had left his mate to go help the former monk with a few chores about the village, the hanyou couldn't help but think about his mate all during his chores.

"_It's her choice to be human. I really wish she would remain as a hanyou, but no matter what, I love her. It doesn't matter what form she takes, I'll still love her with all of my heart._"

Releasing another sigh, the hanyou glanced up at the sky. It was already in the afternoon, with the sky full of sunshine.

"_Inuyasha said they'd be back today around midday. I guess when they get back, Lilly will have to make her choice._"

Startled from his thoughts by the branch he sat on bobbing lightly, the hanyou turned his vision to the branch before him to find his mate had just landed upon it. She gave him a small smile and moved forward before sitting down before him and turning around so she could lean back against him. Allowing her to, the male hanyou wrapped his arms around the neko hanyou and breathed in her scent of raspberries.

"Have they come back yet?"

Shaking his head in a slow motion and nuzzling his nose against her neck, the dog hanyou whispered in reply "No, not yet. They should be soon though."

Seeing his mate nod lightly, the male hanyou continued to inhale his mate's scent. "_It's so damn intoxicating. I remember the night she came to me during my heat so vividly... Her scent set my blood ablaze and made it nearly impossible to keep control._"

Feeling the neko relax against his body, the dog hanyou smiled slightly and reached up to the top of her head and began to gently stroke the cone shaped appendages. A soft moan escaped from the lips of his mate and she leaned more into his touch. Not even a minute later, she was quietly purring, earning another smile from the male hanyou.

Sniffing the air, the male hanyou silently groaned inwardly when he picked up the scent of his half brother and his mate. As he stopped his stroking of his mate's ears, he heard her whimper lightly from the lack of his touch.

"Perfect timing…" Iya grumbled while flicking a glance towards the ancient well. Doing so, he saw the red robed hanyou leap out with his human mate and land on the ground next to the well.

Releasing another sigh, the male hanyou took his mate into his arms and pulled her into a bridal style before standing up, surprising the neko completely. She let out a small squeal of surprise when the male hanyou leapt out of the tree and hit the ground softly. Setting his mate down onto her own feet, the black haired dog hanyou proceeded towards the silver haired hanyou and his human mate hand in hand with the neko.

Folding his arms over his chest, Inuyasha grunted out "Looks like this place is still in one piece since we've been gone for a day or two."

"Don't be rude Inuyasha." Kagome ground out while elbowing her mate in the ribs. Returning her attention to the pair, the miko smiled and said "It's good to see the two of you."

Receiving a nod from both, the miko looked at the neko hanyou and asked softly "Lilly, did you make your decision?"

Letting out a small sigh, the neko closed her eyes and dropped her mate's hand. Gradually reopening her eyes and nodding, Lilly quietly replied "Yes, I have Kagome."

Reaching into her kimono top with her right hand, the female hanyou pulled out the pink jewel and gently reached out for the miko's own right hand. Tenderly, she placed the jewel into the black haired miko's hand and softly smiled.

"Kagome, I thought long and heard about becoming human, but in the end, I decided I don't wish to be any longer. At one time, I did desire to become human, but since then, I've grown to like my neko hanyou form, and have come to accept who I've become. I feel that in this form, I've grown so much, and to change back into what I once was would not work out. So, I cannot accept your gift. I don't want to become human."

Warmly smiling, the miko nodded, saying "I understand."

"But know this, Kagome." Lilly calmly added. "I do want one thing for you. I wish for you to be happy…"

As a whole, the group could not help but suppress a gasp of shock as suddenly the pink jewel in the miko and female hanyou's hands flared to life. Shaking her head rapidly, the neko hanyou shouted "NO! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE A WISH!"

A brilliant pink pearlescent glow formed around the miko. Realizing what was happening, the miko quickly stepped away from the group.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled while moving towards his mate, only to be repulsed by a barrier of pink energy. Slamming his palms against it, he yelled "Let me in Kagome!"

Staring at her mate with sad eyes, the miko shook her head in a no fashion. "Inuyasha, I can't, not yet."

"Why not!?" the silver haired hanyou demanded.

Staring at the miko with tears in her eyes, the neko hanyou whimpered out "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry Kagome. I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright Lilly." Kagome softly replied with a small smile. Before she could say anything else, the miko winced as her body pulsated.

"DAMN IT KAGOME, LET ME IN THERE!" the silver haired hanyou snarled while smashing his fists against the pink barrier. "LET ME HELP YOU!"

Pulsating once more, the miko let out a soft cry of pain. Without warning, her body pulsated once more while her body began to change. Her ears slowly vanished as a pair of black dog ears sprouted a top her head. Her blunt human teeth sharpened into fangs, while her human fingernails turned into sharp claws. The transforming miko's hair grew out in length also, reaching her butt in length and seemed to grow in it's black luster. Behind her, a black fluffy tail grew out in the shape of a small ball of fur.

With a final pulse, the pink aura faded from the miko, who fell to her knees. The pink barrier sputtered for a moment before falling, allowing the silver haired hanyou to reach his mate.

"Kagome, you, you…"

Weakly smiling up at her kneeling mate, the miko whispered "This is what I wanted, to be happy. I wanted to become a half demon again."

Standing with a bit of a wobble, the female dog hanyou looked past her mate at the neko who had tears sliding down her face. Smiling at the neko, the female dog hanyou moved past her mate and embraced the neko hanyou.

"Thank you, Lilly."

Pulling back, the neko weakly smiled, saying "I'm sorry I used up the Sacred Jewel. I didn't mean to make…"

"Lilly, it's alright." Kagome warmly interrupted. "My one desire was to be able to become a hanyou again, so I could live side by side with Inuyasha."

"What about the well, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked with concern in his voice.

Biting her lip lightly, the new hanyou quietly replied "I'm not sure. It may still work, but without the Sacred Jewel around any longer, I don't know."

"Well, we could try it." the silver haired hanyou informed.

Nodding seemingly hesitantly, the black haired hanyou softly said "I suppose, but first, I want to see the others before I try it again. If it works and we get through, great, but I'm worried that it may not let us back through."

"There is only one way to find out, and I'll even go with you, just to make sure." Inuyasha firmly remarked.

Smiling, the miko hanyou nodded, saying "I'm glad."

Returning her attention to the other two hanyous before her, the female dog hanyou smiled, asking "Why don't we go to the village?"

"Sure." Iya casually commented. "Besides, we need to leave today."

"You're leaving already?" Inuyasha grunted out.

Nodding in reply, the black haired dog hanyou coolly replied "We need to get back. I'm sure everyone at the Western Stronghold is a touch worried about me, seeing how I left before I was fully recovered. I'm sure Kiyomi will have my hide for leaving like that."

"I don't doubt it." Lilly teased. "I'm sure Momo isn't happy with you either."

"She'll get over it." Iya casually remarked.

With a smile, Kagome reached out and took hold of her mate's hand, saying "Well then, let's go back to the village. Besides, I have a gift for Sango and you, Lilly, that I want to give in private."

Receiving a nod in reply, the miko hanyou began tugging her mate towards the village with the other two hanyou behind them in tow.

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Finding the female demon slayer, former monk, the fox kit, and the smaller neko at the former monk and demon slayer's hut, the miko hanyou was quickly asked why she was in her hanyou form once more. After a brief explanation, the group settled, with the miko asking to speak to both the neko hanyou and the demon slayer alone.

With the men outside of the hut and out of hearing range, the dog hanyou smiled at the pair with a light twinge of pink coloring in her cheeks. "I asked to talk to you two alone because I brought both of you a gift from my time. It's something that each of your mates may like to see you wear."

Tearing into her large yellow backpack, the dog hanyou quickly pulled out two boxes, each with a red ribbon tied around them to keep them shut. Handing one to each of her two friends, the miko slyly smiled.

"I have one for Orihime also, but I'll just give it to you, Lilly, to take back with you. That okay?"

Receiving a nod from the neko hanyou, the dog hanyou once more smiled and said "Go ahead and open them guys. It's not like they're bombs."

Both the neko hanyou and the demon slayer nodded to this and began removing the ribbon. A touch irritated that she couldn't undo the ribbon easily, the neko finally used her claws to cut it, allowing her to remove the lid. Pulling it off, she looked inside the box to find a black piece of fabric within it. Being mindful of her claws, the neko pulled the fabric out and held it up, noting there was a second piece that was under the top. Holding it out from herself, the neko looked at it, noting it had two thin silk straps and was nearly see through. The black fabric had a white floral print on it and two hanging threads on the piece that seemed meant to be tied together. Noting the fabric seemed short, the neko set the fabric aside and looked at the second piece, finding it had a wide triangle like shape in the front and a single strip in the back and a pair of single strips that went around the sides.

The demon slayer at the same time looked at her own acquisition, finding her gift was a piece of red fabric, looking similar in shape to that of the neko hanyou's. Looking at it, she frowned, unsure of what to make of it.

Seeing the frowns on both her friends' faces, the dog hanyou couldn't help but giggle slightly and quietly said with a touch of blush staining her cheeks "I gave you two some lingerie from my time period."

"Lingerie?" the neko asked in confusion.

Blushing lightly, the dog hanyou quietly replied "Yes, lingerie. I'm sure women in this time period have clothing they wear only for their husband's eyes, right Sango?"

Turning a shade of pink herself, Sango whispered "I suppose…"

"Well, that's what this is. It's clothing meant for each of you to wear in front of your mates alone. I guess you could say it's to turn them on, and yourself too I suppose. I know when I wore mine in front of Inuyasha last night, I felt bolder than usual and he was extremely turned on by it." Kagome explained.

Now turning a shade of pink, the neko glanced at the thin fabric once more and imagined the reaction of her mate. Immediately, she felt herself warming up at the thought and quickly dismissed it from her mind, knowing the dog hanyou in the room could not only smell her arousal, but knew her own mate would too if she didn't calm herself. Looking at the fabric once more, the neko hanyou mentally noted to wear it when her and her mate arrived back at the Western Stronghold.

"Thinking of what will happen?" the dog hanyou questioned, breaking the neko out of her thoughts, along with the demon slayer. Both turned shades of crimson and quickly placed their clothing within the boxes they had received.

Smiling at the dog hanyou, the neko warmly said "Thank you for this gift, Kagome. I think it will be just right."

"No problem." the dog hanyou replied. "I believe I got your sizes right. I based it off of what I wear since all three of us are about the same size, with exception of height. Oh, and I think I got you a pair of panties that will not bother your tail, Lilly."

Receiving a nod, the neko looked at the bottoms for a moment before looking to the dog hanyou with a raised brow. Lightly chuckling at the neko's confusion, the hanyou held them up and calmly said "This is the side you want on the front, and this goes in the back. I know it looks weird, but trust me, when Iya sees you in this, it will drive him wild. Thongs usually turn on most men."

"Okay…" Lilly murmured while placing the underwear within the box once more and tying it shut with the small ribbon.

"Come on, let's go see the men before they get antsy and think we're up to something." Kagome commented with a small smirk, earning her giggles from both young women.

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Watching his mate and the other two young women return from the nearby hut, the black haired dog hanyou noted his mate was carrying two boxes, but didn't ask about them. She smiled at him and moved up to his side.

"Well, unfortunately, it is time for us to be off." Iya quietly remarked. "I have never been one for goodbyes, but I'll try to make it quick."

Moving before the former monk and demon slayer, the male hanyou warmly said "I wish both of you luck in the future with your new children."

"Children?" Sango asked in confusion.

Nodding in reply, Iya replied "Yes, children. You're pregnant with twins. Didn't you know?"

Turning a shade of white, the demon slayer weakly repeated "Children!? I'm pregnant? How do you know? Are you even sure if you know!?"

"I'm positive, Sango." the black haired dog hanyou confirmed. Tapping his nose, he added "It's your scent. It has shifted since the last time I was able to clearly take in your scent. If I had to guess, you haven't been pregnant for long. Besides, I'm picking up two scents within you, which both smell of hanyou. If I had to guess, your children will both be hanyous since they were conceived while you were still a half demon yourself."

"So that's why your scent was off." Inuyasha muttered to himself while folding his arms over his chest. "I've been wondering what it meant, but I had no clue."

Lightly chuckling at his half brother, the black haired dog hanyou added "I wouldn't worry about it, Sango. Both you and Miroku will be wonderful parents, I'm sure. Just be mindful that they will be born in seven months time, not nine like human children."

"A father… I'm going to be a father." Miroku murmured to himself. Immediately, a brilliant smile broke out on his face and he kissed the demon slayer deeply. Pulling back, he smiled and quietly said "We're going to be parents."

"Yeah, it's a shock…" the slayer mumbled. Gathering her thoughts, she added "Just make sure to come back for the wedding. It's in a month."

"We will." Lilly stated before moving forward and embracing the slayer and former monk. Iya did the same actions and moved on down to his brother and his mate.

Smiling, the black haired hanyou reached out his hand to his silver haired brother and calmly said "Inuyasha, it was good to see you once again. Izayoi and father would be proud of the young man you've grown into."

"Feh, like I care what the old man thinks of me." the belligerent hanyou muttered.

Shrugging, Iya added "Don't forget that you are always welcome at the Western Stronghold. It is not only my home, or Sesshomaru's, but yours also. And try not to hold too much of a grudge against our older brother. He means well, though he doesn't do well by us."

"That prick never will." Inuyasha grumbled.

Shaking his head, the black haired hanyou turned the female dog hanyou, saying "Kagome, I wish you well in your new life as a hanyou."

"Thank you, Iya." Kagome warmly replied. Reaching out, she embraced the male hanyou, saying "Take good care of yourself and Lilly. I hope you two come to see us."

Pulling back, Iya smiled back and replied "We will, don't worry. I don't think living at the Stronghold will be something I wish to do forever."

"Me either." Lilly added. Reaching forward, the neko hugged the female dog hanyou and finally pulled back, saying "I wish to thank you for everything, Kagome."

"Think nothing of it. I'm just glad that in the end, the wish on the Sacred Jewel was used for something good. It is I who should be thanking you for keeping me happy." the female dog hanyou remarked.

Nodding in reply, the neko smiled at the small fox kit, who leapt up onto Iya's shoulder. "Do you really have to go, Iya?"

"Yes, we have to, Shippou." Iya responded. "But don't worry, we'll be back sometime soon. I promise."

Smiling, the fox kit nodded and leapt off of the black haired dog hanyou's shoulder onto the female dog hanyou's. He smiled at the pair of hanyous, saying "Take care till then."

"Thank you, Shippou." Lilly murmured.

Casting a smile at the entire group, Iya bowed lightly to them. Rising up, he warmly said "I thank you, all of you, for your help in the defeat of The Thirteen. Without each of you, our victory may not have been accomplished. I truly thank you, each of you, for your aide. We will return someday soon to visit, I promise."

"Just make sure you do that." Inuyasha gruffly commented. "I don't want anyone here sad because you didn't come back."

Nodding to his brother, Iya reached out for his mate's hand and asked "Shall we then?"

"I'm ready."

Turning his attention to the group one last time, the male hanyou smiled, saying "Farewell."

With his words spoke, the black haired dog hanyou turned away and reached out for his mate, who took his hand. Together, hand in hand, the pair left the village.

Reaching the outskirts, Lilly asked "When do you think we'll see them again?"

"In a month, if you remember, mate." Iya replied with a small smile. "Besides, it may not be that long, for they are our friends and family."


	70. Alert on rating change

It's been a really long time since I've touched this story, but it occurred to me today that this story probably should be marked as M since it contains lemons. When I originally wrote it, was much more liberal with ratings. Since then, it's started tightening down on stories with lemons and so on. I'm changing the rating just so nothing does happen to this story. It was one of my favorites to write and I'd hate to see it taken down because I didn't rate it properly. At any rate, anyone interested, there are currently three sequels, so check them out if you want to continue to see what becomes of Iya, Lilly, and their friends. Later.

~Illidan the Half Demon.


End file.
